Nergish H. Aga

She had only one brother, Khshru, but lived in an apartment flat in Dadar Parsee Colony with extended family. She loved growing up with lots of cousins, aunts, and uncles nearby and had a very happy childhood. She graduated from J.B. Vachha High School for Parsi Girls and from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics with a degree in accountancy. Soon after graduating from college, she met and fell in love with Hoshi Aga. He swept her off her feet and convinced her to move to the United States with him shortly after they were married in 1964. They came to the United States on a cargo boat traveling for thirty days with only seventy dollars in hand when they arrived in Boston. Hoshi had already been to the US to go to college, but this was Nergish’s first time to come to the states. She missed her family back in India, but soon made new friends and a new home.

Nergish and Hoshi settled in Pennsylvania, but during that time, they also lived for few years in Mexico, Brazil, and Iran for Hoshi’s career. While in Pennsylvania, she welcomed her only son, Neville, into their family. He was such a blessing and joy after she suffered from many heartbreaking pregnancy losses. They lived in Pittsburgh until Neville was out of grade school and finally settled in Birmingham, Alabama. The three of them traveled the world together, and Nergish’s warm and loving personality made them lifelong friends wherever they went. She was always an optimist and found beauty in all of the fifty five countries she visited, but she always found Rio, Brazil with the Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking the coast, to be her absolute favorite.

Nergish was proud of her Indian heritage, all of her Parsi traditions and Zoroastrian faith, but also cherished being a member of Brookwood Baptist Church in Birmingham and attending Sunday school. She was baptized along with Hoshi and Neville in 1982. Nergish was a homemaker until Neville went to middle school, and then she began a career working as an accountant for Electric Machine Control. She stayed with the company until retirement.

Her retirement perfectly coincided with the time her first grandchild, Austin, was born in 1998. She loved being a grandma more than anything. She is the kind of grandma any child would want to have. She was not only a kind, adoring, and supportive grandma, but also remarkably world-savvy, having been born in a different culture and having acquired a deep understanding of various cultures around the world. She encouraged her children and grandchildren to embrace diversity and excel in school, fostering a love for learning about different cultures. She excelled in making stock trades and was very wise with money. She couldn’t wait to start college accounts for the grandkids the day they were born, although at the time she didn’t realize how many there would be. She always said the Lord didn’t give her a large family but gave it to her through four beautiful grandchildren.

Even though she lived far away, when she came to visit her grandchildren, her life revolved around whatever the kids were interested in. She attended school parties, recitals, sporting events, concerts, or anything else she could tag along to. She loved all of them with everything she had and loved traveling with them as well. She took them on trips to Mexico, Alaska, the Caribbean, Dubai, and also to see where she grew up in India. She was one of a kind and could pick up languages wherever they went. She was fluent in at least five languages.

When she wasn’t with family, she enjoyed spending time with friends. She was very hospitable and loved having friends over for fancy dinner parties or to just spend time together. She never let you leave hungry and always wanted you to feel at home. She also was an avid bridge player and hosted their bridge group weekly. They had a second home on the beach in Florida and loved welcoming family and friends there as well. She loved being near the ocean and watching the sunset. She was a big hugger and made everyone feel so loved. She and Hoshi were extremely adaptable and easily assimilated with whatever group they were with. She always had fun when people would ask her where she was from and would tell them they had three guesses to figure it out with a twinkle in her eye. They usually guessed, Greece, or Italy. She especially enjoyed it when someone from India didn’t recognize her as being Indian and she would suddenly start speaking to them in Gujarati or Hindi.

In the last few years, Nergish’s health had been in decline, and they decided to leave their beloved Birmingham and move to Norman, Oklahoma, to be closer to family.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother. She is survived by her loving husband Hoshi (they would have celebrated their 60th anniversary on February 9th), her beloved son Neville and his wife Shelli, and four grandchildren: Austin, Evan, Addison, and Emerson. She also leaves behind a sister-in-law in India, along with her nephew and his family, and her niece and her family in Sydney, Australia. She leaves behind a legacy of love for a multitude of family and friends. Her Celebration of Life service will be at New Life Bible Church on Saturday, February 10th, at 11 a.m.u There will be link for a live stream for any friends or family that would like to join virtually. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Vaccha High School for girls scholarship fund.

THE J.B.VACHHA HIGH SCHOOL FOR PARSI GIRLS

Mancherji Joshi Rd, Parsi Colony,

Dadar, Mumbai- 400014

Maharashtra.