Fred Champagne, M.D.

Fred Champagne was born on December 12, 1932 in Baie-de-Henne, Haiti to Françoise (née Jean-Baptiste) and Philippe Champagne. 

Fred completed his elementary studies at the College de Port-au-Prince in 1949, his secondary studies at Lycée Alexandre Pétion in 1954, and his medical studies at the Université d’Etat d’Haiti, Faculté de Medecine et de Pharmacie in 1962. While a resident of obstetrics and gynecology at Maternité Isaie Jeanty Chancerelles in Port-au-Prince, he met Agathe Hercule; the two eloped in 1964 before emigrating to the United States.  

In the years to follow Fred served as a house physician at Burrell Memorial Hospital in Roanoke, Virginia and an intern at Homer G. Phillips Hospital in St. Louis. He studied at the University of Chicago before embarking on a 26-year career at St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago, where he was among the first anesthesiologists trained in cardiac anesthesia, allowing for the first open heart surgery to be performed at St. Joseph.  

A loving father of three, Fred was a voracious reader, a wine enthusiast, a lover of classical, Latin and Haitian music, and a prolific poet. His book of poems, Echos Non Eteints, was published in 2014. Fred would spend hours discussing Haitian politics and the future of his beloved Haiti. Intent on seeing his homeland flourish, on several occasions he returned to Haiti to instruct medical students and complete medical missions in Pignon. Fred was a founding member of Association des Médecins Haitiens à l’Etranger (Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad) and the founding president of the Chicago DuSable Society.

Fred was preceded in death by his parents Françoise (née Jean-Baptiste) and Philippe; his brothers Arsène, Guy, Jean, Michel; and his sister Marie. 

Fred is survived by his loving wife Agathe, his three children Fred, Jr., Ronald (Farnaz), and Sabine (Marvin); his grandchildren Yasmine, Christopher, Valerie, and Bijan; his brothers Rony (Lorraine), Sylver (Marie), Paul (Marie-Rose), his sister, Christine; and countless loving nieces, nephews, cousins, god children, and friends.  

Visitation Saturday November 26, 2022, from 10 AM to 11AM at St. James Catholic Church, 2907 S. Wabash Ave. Chicago, IL 60616

Funeral Mass at 11 AM.  
To join the funeral mass via Zoom, please click on the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/622647147?pwd=VVUveGd0a2wwM1R2VmFrY0liVkMyQT09#success
 

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