Mostafa Rashidi

Mostafa Rashidi (known by everyone as Bijan) was born on July 21, 1947 in Damavand, Iran. Later, the family settled in Tehran. He was a very cheerful child and grew up to be an athlete as a youth. He was active in swimming and in track and field. He was even a lifeguard at the local pool. Bijan had an adventurous and creative spirit and in high School was creating lots of artwork.

Bijan moved to the US in 1968 and lived in Virginia and DC area. He even attended Woodstock in 1969. He was fun loving and had a truck with a camper shell in which he would travel and go camping. He studied auto design technology and specialized in automatic transmission technology. He moved to New York in 1977 with his brother Ramses and went back to Iran in 1978 to work with his brother Abbas. He left Iran after the revolution and returned to the US where he became active in the Baha'i community of New York. During this time, he went on a teaching trip to Sri Lanka.

Bijan moved to Southern California with his mom and Ramses in 1983. He married Akram Eshraghi in 1984 and eventually settled in South Orange County where they lived for over 30 years together. The fruits of their marriage are three sons: Justin, Shaunty, and Royce (I mean Royce Adam), all of whom he loved and adored. He continued working as a mechanic specializing in transmissions, even developing biodiesel at one point. He also loved the ocean and sailing.

Bijan loved his siblings, Maryam, Abbas, Tata, Mahin, and Ramses, his mother Fatemeh, known as Momon, as well as all whom he came in contact with. His love extended to the newest addition to the family, Natalie, Shaunty’s wife.

He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma four years ago. He was very strong and in good spirits all the time despite his cancer. His hospitality, good heart, and kind nature shined through to the end of his life. He even tried to joke around with the nurses in the last few days of his life. He passed peacefully to the next world on the evening of August 12, 2019.