Thomas Hamaway

Dr. Thomas Z. Hamaway has moved his medical practice to Heaven, effective October 11, 2019. TZH, or, as his grandchildren called him, "The Most Interesting Man in the World", passed on to join the party in Heaven where his best friends and family have been waiting for him.

Dr. Hamaway was a devoted member of the Fort Lauderdale community for 50 years, serving as the Chief of Surgery/ Chief of Staff at several hospitals including Broward General Hospital and The Cleveland Clinic. He performed the first kidney transplant in Broward County but his devotion to his patients, his incredible bedside manner, and his generosity are how his patients will remember him. He has left a legacy of compassionate medicine with those he trained and those he loved who went into medicine including his daughter, niece, and nephew. To those of us that weren't his patients, he was simply the greatest dad, uncle, Papa, and friend that anyone could ask for. His kids joked that he was "Aldo Cella" because anywhere they went as a family, patients would approach him to say thank you for the help and hope he had given. He had a smile that could change a bad day to a good one and even in his last days was making his family and nurses laugh. He will be terribly missed but we are all better for knowing and loving him.

Dr. Hamaway, 88, of Pompano Beach, FL, was born March 17, 1931 in Cairo, Egypt to Zaki Abdalla Hamaway and Olga Habib Nasser.

Thomas is survived by daughter, Dr. Laura H. Scalfano and husband Gary of Aubrey, TX; sons, Michael Patrick Hamaway and wife Kasey of Ft. Lauderdale, FL and Christopher Stephen Hamaway and wife Jennifer of Park City, UT; nieces, Sherine Centenari, Dr. Doris Hamawy, and Lucy Hamawy; nephews, Dr. Karim Hamawy, Anthony Hamawy, and Dr. Samir Zereik; and seven grandchildren, Christen, Georgia, Emma, Bryce, Carter, Sophia, and Caroline.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Zaki and Olga; brothers, Fouad Z. Hamawy and Abdalla Z. Hamawy; and sisters, Marguerite Hamawy and Yvette Hamawy.

A viewing/wake will be held from 12:00PM-1:30PM, Saturday, October 26, 2019 at Fred Hunter Funeral Home on S. Federal Hwy in Fort Lauderdale, FL. A reception will follow at 2:30PM at the Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale. In lieu of flowers the family has requested that donations be made to the Retina Foundation at https://retinafoundation.org/donate/ in memory of Dr. Thomas Hamaway.