Dr. Richard T. Caleel: Man of all Seasons

Richard Thomas Caleel was born in 1936 to Lebanese parents Tamir Sarkis Caleel and Almaza Caleel in Detroit, Michigan. He had two older siblings that he was very close to in spite of them being quite a bit older than him. His parents waited out the depression for their third child. Richard looked up to his brother, George and sister, Lucille, all his life. While his mother was very kind, loving, and devoted to their family, his father, a hard-working man, was the greatest influence in his life.

Early in his life, he knew he wanted to become a doctor because he saw that doctors not only helped people but were also very successful. He grew up in a colorful neighborhood, surrounded by kids of every nationality. In his eclectic neighborhood, the milkman delivered milk in glass bottles on a horse-driven wagon. Meanwhile, kids were playing stickball in the street. One day while he was playing, he lost the tip of his finger while tinkering with a friend’s bike. His father rushed him to the hospital but to no avail; they could not put the tip back on. Little did he know that one day he would become a much-admired surgeon with part of his finger missing.

He attended Boys Central Catholic High School in Detroit while working at a woman’s shoe store to help pay for his education. While he kept his job, he attended Wayne State University, Detroit at night, eventually working into being a daytime student. From there he became an orderly at Grace Hospital and moved from there to the Detroit Osteopathic Hospital and worked in their lab. Because he saw many successful surgeries, it helped him decide to choose general surgery as his specialty. After three years of pre-med, he was accepted to Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine at twenty years old.

This is where our hero meets our heroine.

When he was 21 years old, a friend took him to an auto show and as he was gazing at cars the beauty of one of the models knocked him out. There stood Annette Canalia, 19 years old, tall and gorgeous, the daughter of a tightknit Italian family. They started dating and after a few months they knew they would spend the rest of their lives together. In 1961, he graduated med school at Midwestern University, where he later became a professor of surgery in Chicago, Illinois. He also became an adjunct professor of surgery at Northwestern University. He then did his residency in Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles. He continued working all the while. After graduation, he and Annette were married in a small ceremony and put off their honeymoon because they didn’t have the funds to travel at that time. But no need to feel sorry for them because since then, Annette, Richard, and their family have traveled all over the world multiple times. They gave birth to their first child in 1966 and followed that with three more (two boys and two girls).

His first job was at Detroit Osteopathic Hospital, but he then decided to have his own practice on the side as a general surgeon. After fellow doctors saw his work, they began referring patients to him. Meanwhile, his sister had a successful business and married baseball player Vic Wertz for the Cleveland Indians. His brother was successful also as a doctor. Later, the two brothers would go into business together. In 1969, they started Surgical Associates with many other surgeons. After that venture, he went into plastic surgery. At first he did all kinds of cosmetic surgery, but ended up doing only faces. He then, along with several other cosmetic surgeons, started Academy of Cosmetic Surgeons and eventually became president of this organization. 

This is where the fun comes in.

As if his life wasn’t full enough, he started taking horseback riding lessons. Eventually he was taking lessons three times a week. This led the whole family into horses, competitions, and most importantly of all, polo! Polo became a major part of their lives. It became so big, they had twenty-eight horses of their own. The entire family played and won in various International competitions all over the world. In 1974, he joined the United States Polo Association, and later, the Federation of International Polo (FIP) where he became their ambassador and, eventually, their president. One of his most memorable moments was when Prince Charles presented him the outstanding award of most improved player.

But if you ask him what was the high point of his life, he will say it was when he joined American Doctors for Overseas Services at age 33. “I chose the outskirts of Kenya for my first outing. It was in the middle of a jungle,” he said. He loved the feeling of being useful to the disadvantaged. This was a running theme in his life. After Africa, his next tour was India and then New Guinea. He was eventually named consultant to the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare by Presidential Appointment.

After traveling all over the world, he and Annette chose Santa Barbara because of the weather, lifestyle, and polo. They couldn’t be happier with their decision!

Because of all his successes, I asked him what advice he would give to someone just starting out and he said, “Focus on your goal and persevere.”