Habib Akhtar Zuberi

Dr. Habib Akhtar Zuberi July 9, 1932 – September 3, 2026 Dr. Habib Akhtar Zuberi, 94, died at his home in Canton, Michigan, on September 3, 2026. He was born July 9, 1932, in Kanpur, India, the son of Mohammed Ilyas Khan and Ahmedi Beghum. Habib earned his bachelor's and master’s degree at Aligarh Muslim University, where he also served in the University Officers Training Corps, before coming to the United States in 1961. He went on to earn a doctorate in economics from Southern Illinois University and taught at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, before joining the faculty of Central Michigan University (CMU) in 1971. CMU became his professional home for twenty-nine years. He chaired the Department of Economics from 1980 to 1984, was named full professor in 1984, and retired in 2000 as Professor Emeritus. He was a natural convener of intellectual and social life on campus, gathering regularly with faculty from across disciplines at a corner of the Student Center that became known as "Habib's Hideaway." He also served as a visiting professor at the University of Windsor and lectured for many years at the Robert Perry Institute of Banking. He remained proud of Aligarh throughout his life and served as president of the Aligarh Muslim University Alumni Association of Michigan. In retirement, he followed the markets every day with the discipline of a working schedule. Education had changed the course of his life, and he gave back to the institutions that made it possible. He established scholarship funds at both his alma mater, Aligarh Muslim University, and Central Michigan University, where the Habib Zuberi Scholarship is still awarded today to economics majors and graduate students. He married Rosemary Eileen McClain, whom he affectionately called "Rosie." She was the love of his life, and he admired her as much as he loved her. Travel was one of the great pleasures of their life together, and it was always about two things: seeing the world and being with family. Over nearly fifty years, they traveled widely, and they showed their daughters the world from a very young age, believing that seeing it firsthand was an invaluable part of an education. Relatives near and far mattered enormously to him, and he stayed present in the lives of a family spread across continents. He and Rosemary moved to Plymouth to be closer to their daughters and grandchildren. She preceded him in death in 2011. He then made his home in Canton with his daughter Shaheena, less than a mile from his daughter Shahnaz and her family. Habib loved to socialize with family and friends. He made friends easily and kept them. He talked politics passionately and took real pleasure in mentoring others. He was a longtime active member of the Rotary Club of Plymouth, where he served on the scholarship committee for the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park and delighted in seeing young people excel academically. He had an extraordinary memory, and it showed in everything he loved. He was a formidable bridge player and a regular at the Livonia senior center, drawn to a game that rewards memory above almost everything else. He loved Urdu poetry and could recite, at will, verses he had learned more than seventy years earlier. He was a gifted storyteller, and even later in life, when his memory had begun to fail him, the stories stayed. He told them with great pride in his heritage and deep gratitude for the life he had lived. He understood the importance of passing down the history of his family and the world he had witnessed, and he delighted in sharing those stories with family and friends, preserving memories that might otherwise have been lost. He also put that history into writing, authoring Zuberis of Southeast Asia, a record of his family's history and heritage. He is survived by his daughters, Shaheena Habib Zuberi and Shahnaz Habib Broucek (Bill Broucek); his grandchildren, Alayna Baillod, Hannah Broucek (Benjamin Samoy), and William Broucek; his sisters, Roshan Murtaza and Mehijibeen Qureshi; and many nieces and nephews, whom he cherished. He was preceded in death by his wife, Rosemary; his brothers, Habib Ahmed Zuberi and Habib Anwar Zuberi; and many beloved family members on both sides. He was deeply loved. His family will go on telling his stories. The Janazah (funeral prayer) will be held today, Friday, September 4, 2026, at Masjid Bilal, 1525 Ridge Road North, Canton, MI at 2:00 pm followed by burial at Knollwood Memorial Park. Friends of all faiths are warmly welcome. Visitation will be held at Vermeulen-Sajewski Funeral Home, 46401 Ann Arbor Road West, Plymouth, MI (between Sheldon and Beck), on Tuesday, September 8th from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the Dr. Habib A. Zuberi Endowed Scholarship at Central Michigan University, checks may be mailed to Central Michigan University, Carlin Alumni House G/E, 524 E Bellows St., Mount Pleasant, MI 48858, (please include a note about how you want your donation to be used or the fund(s) you want to support and your phone number and email, so they can get in touch with any questions) or online at Dr. Habib A. Zuberi Endowed Scholarship - Central Michigan University Giving or to Aligarh Muslim University online only at https://amualumnimichigan.org/donate-now/ To share a memory, please use the share a memory tab on this webpage.

Habib Akhtar Zuberi

July 9, 1932 - September 3, 2026