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Friends Remember Antoun as Selfless Man - 12/5/2009

"He was almost like a fixture in my life."
 
George Haeseler's Friday started out like every other, at noon he went to lunch with friends at the Park Diner.

But next week when the friends meet, there will be one less at the table. 
 
"He would listen. He would be very happy to tell you anything you wanted to know but he was always interested in what you had to say as well," Haessler said. 
Don Quataert also knew Richard Antoun.

The pair had been friends for more than 20 years and he says the former anthropology professor had many sides to him, none of which were bad. 
 
"He was a serious intellectual but at the same time he was a very kind person and very open to others," Quataert said. 

Traits that make it impossible to understand why this tragedy happened.

"If this hadn't happened and he died of natural causes, I'm sure someone would have said at his funeral that he didn't have an enemy in the world," Haeseler said. 

His friends say Antoun enjoyed walking and reading and could often be seen at peace demonstrations, but teaching was his passion.

"He taught the way that he was, which was open, direct, friendly, earnest, very committed," Quataert said. 
 
Even though he was retired, Antoun could regularly be seen on campus assisting students, often in the building where he was killed.

An example of how dedicated he was to helping others.

"I would call on him many times to help me out with graduate students, and he was always willing, always willing," Quataert said. 

And they say they'll miss the way he made everyone around him feel. 

***FOX 40's Chris Whalen Reporting***

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