Former Aramcon Dr. Dhia Said Passes at 74
Nov. 1--Dr. Dhia M. Said, former associate chairman of the department of pediatrics at Franklin Square Hospital Center, died Sunday of prostate cancer at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Mays Chapel resident was 74.
Dr. Said was born and raised in Karbala, Iraq, the son of a schoolteacher and a homemaker. He earned his medical degree in 1956 from the University of Baghdad College of Medicine.
He completed residencies at Al-Shaab and Children's Welfare hospitals in Baghdad, and Republican Hospital in Diwaniyah, Iraq.
From 1956 to 1958, he was a reserve medical officer in the Iraqi army. From 1959 to 1961, he was an assistant instructor in the department of pharmacology at the University of Baghdad College of Medicine.
Dr. Said was pediatric house officer, senior house officer and registrar in the pediatric departments of West Middlesex Hospital in London and Royal Manchester Children's Hospital in Manchester, England, from 1962 to 1964.
In 1965, Dr. Said moved to Washington, where he was a resident, senior resident and chief resident in pediatrics at District of Columbia General Hospital, Georgetown University Hospital and Howard University Hospital.
From 1967 to 1969, Dr. Said was a fellow in pediatric hematology and oncology at Children's Hospital of Michigan and Children's Research Center at Wayne State University.
After holding several pediatric positions at As-Sharq Hospital and Arabian American Oil Co. in Saudi Arabia from 1970 to 1972, Dr. Said joined the staff of what was then Franklin Square Hospital.
"He had such a love of children and thought that being a pediatrician might be a little easier than other areas of medicine," said a daughter, Layla Said Emge of Reisterstown.
"He was wrong. He'd be called out in the middle of the night, on weekends, and worked very long hours," she said.
He was acting and then associate chairman of the department of pediatrics at Franklin Square from 1972 to 1998. He also was chairman at the hospital of the pediatric continuing education program from 1973 to 1999. He had been an instructor in pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and at the West Virginia School of Ostepathic Medicine.
Dr. Said established a private pediatric practice in 1997 and retired from the hospital the next year. After his practice was purchased by MedStar, he retired. He was hired back as its medical director and retired a second time in 2002.
"I was chairman of the pediatric department at Franklin Square when Dr. Said joined me, and we worked together until I retired in 1988," said Dr. Thomas W. Holcomb. "He was very caring and devoted to his patients. He also really enjoyed working with the residents and teaching. He was a pleasure to work with and for."
Dr. Holcomb described Dr. Said as "a quiet and soft-spoken gentleman" whom the "children never feared."
Rachel E. Miles, who was born at Franklin Square, was 6 weeks old when she developed a dangerously high fever. Dr. Said told her mother to take her daughter to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with bacterial spinal meningitis.
"He told my mother he'd take care of me. They did a brain scan and a spinal tap, and I was in the hospital for a week," Ms. Miles, who works in legal affairs for the Baltimore Police Department, said yesterday.
"I'm now 31 and have two daughters of my own. With a lot of help from him, I was able to recover. What he did was nothing short of a miracle. He saved my life," she said.
She said Dr. Said had a distinctive way of distracting children while giving them shots."He was the only doctor I'd let give me a shot. He would take a magic marker and draw an animal on my arm, and when I wasn't paying attention, he'd put in the shot," she said.
Dr. Said became a naturalized citizen in 1979."He was very proud and enjoyed being an American citizen," said Dr. Holcomb, who was Dr. Said's sponsor.
Dr. Said was an avid reader of history and poetry. He also enjoyed playing tennis, horseback riding, entertaining and spending time at a weekend home in Easton.
"Above all else, it was spending time with his family. Family meant everything to him," said Ayda Said, another daughter, who lives in Baltimore.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Nov. 11 at Hunt Valley Golf Club, 14101 Phoenix Road in Phoenix, Baltimore County.
Also surviving are his wife of 10 years, the former Fatima Sadki; a son, Faris Said of Mays Chapel; another daughter, Nada Said of Mays Chapel; a sister, Badria Said of Baghdad; and two grandchildren. An earlier marriage to Soudabeh Salimi ended in divorce.