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Wednesday's funeral for Dr. Hani Amin Hennein was attended by many mourning family and friends who remembered a brilliant surgeon and wise father who took his own life last week after recent strains with his family.
Hennein committed suicide after shooting his estranged wife, Julie, in the face last Friday, July 2.Rev. Beth Freese Dammers told Hennein's four children that the tragedy was "not part of God's plan," but quoted scripture saying "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven; A time to be born, and a time to die."
The opening tribute came from Rev. Swailum Hennein, Hennein's father and a Presbyterian missionary in Kenya and Sudan, where Hennein spent many years in childhood.
"It's important to live love because God is love," he said. Hennein opened by saying "I wish I was there and Hani was here."
Hennein's sister, Marguerite Doyle, said the surgeon grew up to be a man of few words because of the three "bossy sisters" he grew up with.
Doyle said Hennein was always intellectually gifted despite later becoming "troubled inside."
"He was one of the most brilliant, if not the most brilliant person in the world," she said.
Mona Oscai, Hennein's sister-in-law's husband, said Hennein was a phenomenal pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon who gave his life to operating on infants born with heart defects. Oftentimes, Hennein would repair hearts as small as the tip of an index finger.
"For children all over the country, (Hennein) put fire back in those hearts and his life, like a candle in the wind, ended quickly because he didn't know where to turn when the rains came," Oscai said.
Oscai added that "laughing children" across the United States and Africa "will live on" despite Hennein's abrupt death.
Hennein's 18-year-old son, Phillip, remembered his father, then a Little League baseball coach, once teaching the mantra of "don't complain, don't explain ... it's the coming back that counts" after the younger Hennein committed an error in the field.
"In a way, I know he's come back from his death," Phillip said.
Hennein said his father was noticeably troubled in the last few months of his life by the pressures of his work at American Family Children's Hospital in Madison, Wis., along with a weekend commute of over two hours to "an empty house" in Elmhurst.
Wednesday's funeral for Dr. Hani Amin Hennein was attended by many mourning family and friends who remembered a brilliant surgeon and wise father who took his own life last week after recent strains with his family.
Hennein committed suicide after shooting his estranged wife, Julie, in the face last Friday, July 2.Rev. Beth Freese Dammers told Hennein's four children that the tragedy was "not part of God's plan," but quoted scripture saying "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven; A time to be born, and a time to die."
The opening tribute came from Rev. Swailum Hennein, Hennein's father and a Presbyterian missionary in Kenya and Sudan, where Hennein spent many years in childhood.
"It's important to live love because God is love," he said. Hennein opened by saying "I wish I was there and Hani was here."
Hennein's sister, Marguerite Doyle, said the surgeon grew up to be a man of few words because of the three "bossy sisters" he grew up with.
Doyle said Hennein was always intellectually gifted despite later becoming "troubled inside."
"He was one of the most brilliant, if not the most brilliant person in the world," she said.
Mona Oscai, Hennein's sister-in-law's husband, said Hennein was a phenomenal pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon who gave his life to operating on infants born with heart defects. Oftentimes, Hennein would repair hearts as small as the tip of an index finger.
"For children all over the country, (Hennein) put fire back in those hearts and his life, like a candle in the wind, ended quickly because he didn't know where to turn when the rains came," Oscai said.
Oscai added that "laughing children" across the United States and Africa "will live on" despite Hennein's abrupt death.
Hennein's 18-year-old son, Phillip, remembered his father, then a Little League baseball coach, once teaching the mantra of "don't complain, don't explain ... it's the coming back that counts" after the younger Hennein committed an error in the field.
"In a way, I know he's come back from his death," Phillip said.
Hennein said his father was noticeably troubled in the last few months of his life by the pressures of his work at American Family Children's Hospital in Madison, Wis., along with a weekend commute of over two hours to "an empty house" in Elmhurst.
"Imagine that pain," he said.
Hennein said his father is in a better place despite the circumstances of his death.
"I'm 100 percent sure he's in heaven and 100 percent certain he's overcome the torments of his life," he said.
Elmhurst police received a call at 7:09 a.m. Friday, July 2, reporting a shooting at 719 S. Hillside Ave., and found Julia M. Hennein, 52, of Elmhurst shot once in the face. She underwent surgery Friday at Loyola Hospital Maywood and Dammers reported during the funeral that doctors expect Julie Hennein to make a full recovery.Two teenage children were home at the time; they were unharmed.
According to the report, one of Hani Hennein's daughters was eating breakfast with her mother when Julie Hennein went to the garage. Police report a short time later, the daughter heard screaming, walked to the garage and saw her mother bleeding from the face before Hennein shot himself in the head.
Police said Julia Hennein was taken Friday to Loyola Hospital Maywood, where she underwent surgery.
Barry Nash, of the 700 block of Hillside Ave., did not know the family but was one of several neighbors who witnessed the incident.
"There was a woman screaming and then two gunshots ... I was getting ready to go that morning, hadn't been there long," he said. "I saw (Julia Hennein) climb into the ambulance herself, bleeding from her head."
"I guess this sort of thing can happen anywhere," he added.
Elmhurst police have closed their investigation of the incident.Hani Hennein was charged with domestic battery after police said he slapped one of his daughters May 29. Court records show Julia Hennein later filed for divorce and an independent order of protection June 1, although the OOP had a closing dismissal June 17.
Hani Hennein served as a director of PediHeart and active member of the Presbyterian Church of USA, according to Knollcrest's obituary. Hennein worked for various hospitals throughout the country during his 26-year career, along with regularly volunteering his time for sickly children in Africa.
