Khogasteh Lari Behbehani

Khogasteh Lari Behbehani was born on October 6, 1932 in Ahvaz, Iran to the union of Arasteh Nazempour and Mohammad Taghi Lari. She is survived by her four sisters, Pari, Soraya, Pavaneh, Shohreh, and her younger brother Ali.

Khogasteh was preceded in death by her father, Mohammad Taghi Lari, mother, Arasteh Nazempour and husband Shapour Behbehani. She has three children, Nader, Bahman and Haydeh as well as six grandchildren.

She left Iran in 1979 due to the revolution and had emigrated briefly to the United Kingdom and later to the United States. She always had a great amount of compassion for her homeland and had sought to see the day where she could return.

Khogasteh enjoyed traveling especially to visit her siblings, cousins and nephews and nieces with whom she was extremely close. Unfortunately, towards the latter part of her life this was becoming more difficult due to the long distances between her and other family members.

Khogasteh was an accomplished artist who studied in Iran under the supervision of renowned Master Mohsen Soheili. She enjoyed sharing her paintings with family members. Having grandchildren was the beginning of a new chapter in her life which gave her great joy and truly gave her a renewed purpose in life.

One aspect of joy for her was to make freshly squeezed orange juice when her grandchildren visited her. So the family had to have a full case of oranges always available. Mithradad, her oldest grandchild called her “Ma Ju” as a child, likely an abbreviation of Grandma and Juice. She loved being called Ma Ju even until her final moments with us.

She had a deep love and affection for family, her nieces and nephews were truly dear to her. She would often call them consistently to stay up to date with how everyone was.

Every Sunday, Mithradad and Esfandiar, her grandkids would take her out for lunch, and would spend the rest of the day together at her house. While is assisted living, Mithradad would routinely bring her favorite desserts to keep her in good spirits.

We would like to extend our most sincere gratitude to everyone who inspired her and kept her spirits up either through phone calls or visits; and sincerely appreciate those who have gone out of their way to extend comfort during this time. Special thanks to all the staff at the Cedarbrook facility that cared for her, her companion Alicia Bolanos and personal physician and family friend, Dr. Ahmad Emami.

In lieu of dinner, a donation will be made to the Fresno Food Bank.