Samy Sobhy Karaz was born on October 13th, 1952 in the Helwan suburb of Cairo, Egypt, the eldest of three children to Sobhy and Samira Karaz. He graduated from Cairo University School of Medicine in 1976. He was 27 years old when he immigrated to the United States. He met his wife, Louise (Grann), at Merit Care Hospital where they both worked, he as a resident psychiatrist and she as a nurse. Though their cultural backgrounds were vastly different, they formed a deep, loving bond. They wed at Saint Mary’s Cathedral in Fargo on May 17th, 1986. They had two children, Katya and David. The family resided in Fargo, and spent summers at the cherished family lake cabin on Cotton Lake in MN. Later in life they purchased a home in Marco Island, FL to escape the winter cold. When he wasn’t working, he was finding his way to these places to relax by the water with his children and creatively tinker with home improvement projects.