Entrepreneur, philanthropist and devoted family man Tariq Khan, of Hewlett Harbor, dies at 74

Whether organizing golf events for scholarships or charitable organizations, sitting on the boards of hospitals and of nonprofits for the disabled or serving as deputy fire commissioner in his village of Hewlett Harbor, Tariq Khan was as whirlwind in his volunteerism as he was in his career of entrepreneurship.

" ‘To whom much is given, much is expected.’ He lived by that rule," said his wife, Senita Khan, paraphrasing the biblical phrase "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required."

"I think he felt the need and the duty to give back," said his longtime friend, attorney Frank Naclerio, of Manhasset, "because he was blessed in life, having come here as an immigrant with very little and working very hard to establish himself."

"But he did have the grace of a deity, whoever you believe in, which allowed that to happen," Naclerio added of the Pakistani American Khan’s devout Muslim faith. "And he acknowledged that and felt an obligation to be charitable."

His philanthropy extended not only to such national groups as the March of Dimes and the American Heart Association but also to such local organizations as Manorville’s Independent Group Home Living, Rockville Centre’s Molloy University, the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, in Hempstead, and Life's WORC, in Garden City, which supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

"He would connect people. This was his biggest job," said another longtime friend, S. Zaki Hossain, of Huntington, with whom Khan served on the boards of such organizations as the Island Harvest Food Bank and The NuHealth Foundation of Nassau University Medical Center. "At the funeral, I saw a Jewish guy putting soil [in the grave], Christian people putting soil, all kinds of people. He was loved, truly, by so many."

Khan — an entrepreneur in ventures ranging from convenience stores to real-estate firms — died Oct. 7 at his winter home in The Villages, Florida. He was 74. "We suspect it was heart-related, because he passed so suddenly," said Adam Khan, of Boston, the youngest of the couple’s three children.

"Unbelievable father — dedicated, loving,"  Adam Khan said. "He gave us everything we wanted, and I don't just mean the basics, the college education, the car. ... He gave us experiences, advice. We played golf together. We loved watching sports together, being social together. We were very similar — a lot of his friends used to call me mini-Tariq Khan."

Tariq Ahmad Khan was born May 20, 1952, in Lahore, Pakistan, one of six children of military accountant Ghulam Khan and homemaker Begum Khan. Tariq attended Forman Christian College in Lahore, earning a political science degree, his family said, and immigrated to the United States in 1973. He later became a naturalized citizen.

Settling in Queens, he began working multiple jobs, including selling life insurance and working in the collections department of a law firm. Turning to entrepreneurship, he acquired two convenience stores in Manhattan, another in Brooklyn with a luncheonette and a gas station in Valley Stream before entering the 7-Eleven franchise system in 1998. By 2004, he had five stores: one each in Elmont, Lynbrook and Rockville Centre and two in Freeport.

Becoming a franchise activist, he served for many years as president of the United Franchise Owners of Long Island & New York and as chairman of the National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees. His affiliation with the company ended after a 2013 lawsuit alleging, among other contentions, that he and others diverted profits over the course of at least four years in violation of franchise agreements. In a 2020 email to the court, Khan’s lawyer wrote that 7-Eleven "settled the case by paying Mr. Khan a large sum of money to buy his stores."

He remained beloved by his fellow franchisees. The United Franchisees of Long Island lauded him in a memorial statement as "more than a leader and colleague — he was a dear friend and an elder brother. Whenever someone needed help or advice, Tariq was there, offering his time, support and thoughtful guidance."

Among his other business concerns, Khan in 2013 bought Oceanside’s Middle Bay Country Club, which had entered bankruptcy after the devastation of Superstorm Sandy, and resurrected it as the South Bay Country Club. It changed hands later that year to become the Golf Club at Middle Bay. Khan was also a member of Peninsula Kiwanis, in Hewlett.

He married Guyanese immigrant Senita Baychu on Oct. 11, 1975, and lived in Queens before starting a family and moving to Lynbrook in 1985, and later to Hewlett Harbor.

In addition to his wife and their son Adam, he was survived by another son, Imran Khan, of Baldwin, and a daughter, Natasha Khan, of Brooklyn; three brothers, all of New York City; and two sisters, of Houston.

Following a religious service Saturday at Muhammadi Masjid Mosque in Elmont, of which Khan was a founding member, and a service at the Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury on Sunday, visitation was held at the Perry Funeral Home in Lynbrook. He was buried Sunday at Washington Memorial Park in Mount Sinai.