Syed Abdul Wasay Moini

June 9, 1935 - April 4, 2019

Mr. Syed Abdul Wasay Moini was born in June 1935 in Khandwa, India, the 4th of 7 children of Syed Abdul Vahid Moini and Ladli (Khan) Vahid Moini. Some years later, the family moved to the newly created nation of Pakistan, which they then embraced as their home.

Wasay Moini belonged to a distinguished family of scholars and intellectuals, scientists, writers/authors and public service leaders. His father Vahid Moini was an Oxford University-trained biologist recognized for establishing an environmentally progressive Pakistan Forestry Service, and in a second career, becoming a published authority on the Muslim (Sufi) philosopher-poet Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal who inspired the creation of Pakistan. The Moini family traces their lineage directly to the 12th/13th c. great Sufi Muslim saint of Ajmer, India: Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (also known as Gharib Nawaz, or protector of the poor).

Wasay Moini was educated in the UK and the U.S. After completing a BSc degree from the London School of Economics (LSE), he earned a Diploma in Development Economics and Public Administration from Oxford University and went on to earn a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University. Selected in 1957 for the elite Civil Service of Pakistan, he proceeded to work in the province of Sindh, where he established schools, colleges and other civic infrastructure. Later, he also worked with the Investment Corporation of Pakistan.

He and his family moved to the U.S. (Washington, DC area) in 1969 when he joined the World Bank. As a senior executive/economist, he worked on international development programs in Egypt, Iran and various other countries in the Middle East, East Africa, and Latin America. After retiring from the World Bank, he served as managing director of PLHC, a leading financial holding/investment company based in Pakistan.

A renaissance man of wide-ranging interests and many talents, he was a knowledgeable and keen collector of art, antiquities and handicrafts from around the world, an avid reader and a gifted writer; in his younger days, he was also a painter.

Wasay Moini is remembered with respect, gratitude and love by family, friends, colleagues and associates across the world. He is survived by his devoted wife Ingrid Moini; loving daughter Saira Moini, from his earlier marriage to Nasreen Raza Moini; dear family of beloved son Syed Sabur Moini, who passed away in 2017 of a sudden illness -- Nazie, Natasha & Danny Moini; Yasmin, Max & Eric Undeland; and Sven, Lisa, Anna, Elias & Louisa Sahkul.

May the souls of all of our departed loved ones rest in eternal peace. Amen.