Mehri Mahmoodzadeh was born on April 29, 1932, in the province of Rasht, in Iran, which is located by the Caspian Sea. She was born the youngest child of Issa(father) and Gilan (mother) Azarnoosh. Her father was the lieutenant Governor of the region.
A precocious child, she spent much of her time outdoors, playing with the seagull that had become her friend, with goats and snakes and all sorts of animals. She was an adventurous and capable climber of trees. One can imagine her sheer delight being lost in her imaginative play atop a tree. Our mother was the favored child of her father and raised under his influence and progressive ideas to be an independent thinker, to seek for truth. Mehri was also exceptionally intelligent and excelled in her studies. Our mother spoke often and fondly of her childhood. Mehri’s parents were very loving to her and to one another, and she spoke of their tender marriage and her admiration for her siblings. She loved helping her mother cook, and being around her father was pure delight for her. Her favorite childhood delicacy was caviar, which she ate every morning straight from the Caspian. Her father’s unexpected and untimely passing resulted Mehri in being in an arranged marriage at the age of 18, despite her parents’ progressive beliefs. The arrangement was made by a sister-in-law in whose house she was living at the time, and it was a source of great repression for her, especially due to her upraising and the influence of her father. Despite this woman’s selfishness and cruelty, our mother never harbored hate in her heart. Her own mother fainted when it was discovered that she was married off after her father’s passing.
Mehri completed her undergraduate degree in Science at the University of Tehran, played college volleyball, and spent a year in Paris with her first husband. She became a young mother to a son, miscarried twins after being pushed down the stairs in a Paris subway, developed fluency in French and influenced by this culture in myriad of ways, including its fashion. After her return to Iran, she would have her clothes sent from France and have them tailored for her and did so often for her daughters while in Iran. With great courage, Mehri eventually left her arranged marriage as it was void of love. She often commented that the best years of her life at that time were as a single mom, working full time, raising her son, and living with her mother in a humble home in Tehran.
Mehri was a spiritual seeker, and she studied and investigated world religious beliefs. She was born into the Muslim faith. She learned of the Baha’i faith and after years of search of all the world’s religions, she embraced it. To adopt a religion whose adherents were persecuted in Iran since its inception took great courage, especially for a woman. Her newfound faith was a great source of joy in her life, and she embodied the teachings of truthfulness, courage, and independent investigation of truth. When she, with great tribulation, told her mother that she had embraced this new religion, she would discover that her father, shortly before his death, was also investigating the Bahai faith. It was a heavenly confirmation to her. Her mother told Mehri that because she finished what her father had started, she would never oppose her in her newly adopted faith, and she kept to her word.
After the end of her arranged marriage, she fell in love with Amrollah Mahmoodzadeh and entered into a marriage of her choice in January 1964. Their first date was at a boxing match in Tehran which amused her greatly. Her husband was a highly successful civil engineer and a high-ranking member of the Iranian Army. Her second marriage was a blissful union till her
beloved’s passing. As a result, she fought fiercely for her children to have the freedom to marry whoever they wished and pushed against any attempts for arranged marriages based on status or tradition.
Mehri Azarnoush Mahmoodzadeh career was as an educator, a high school Chemistry teacher, and she was cherished and admired by her students. She taught at an all-girls’ high school in Tehran, and for a time was interim headmistress there. After her marriage, she chose to donate her salary so that girls who were denied access to education could have that opportunity.
On June 21st, 1979, she, along with her two daughters, escaped from Iran due to religious persecution for being Bahai’s, to join her husband, who was in America after his earlier escape. Mehri and her family lost all their material possessions and their homeland because of religious persecution under the Islamic regime. She resided with her family in suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, after arriving in America.
When she came to America, due to the language barrier, she was no longer able to teach, so she began working at the General Nutrition Center and supported her family for over 20 years. Mehri loved working and worked all her life both inside and outside of the home. She found work a great source of joy. She was able to advance from working at the store to becoming manager there. Mehri also had many friends there through her work and customers she cared for deeply, and followed her each time she was promoted to a larger store location. It was through her work here that she developed a great passion for health and would purchase organic food and vegetables long before stores like Whole Foods came into existence.
This noble woman, having gone from wealth and high social status to working-class status, never missed the material possessions of her past. Mehri was the embodiment of detachment - of wealth, of status, of title. While mopping the kitchen floor before heading to work one early morning, her beloved husband begged her forgiveness for not being able to give her the life she had in Iran in America due to his declining health. She was noted to have said to him that she was happier with him and her children in America than surrounded by all the material wealth in Iran. Her life in Iran, with drivers and maids and opulence and status was never of consequence to her, though she missed her homeland and her people greatly.
Mehri appreciated the social freedoms of America and embraced the best the west had to offer, while keeping her Persian heritage close and dear to her heart. Mehri learned to drive in America, which was also empowering.
Our mother was an exceptionally beautiful woman, a beauty which almost matched the beauty of her luminous soul. She rarely wore makeup, or wore it lightly, but always wore perfume. When Mehri smiled, her eyes glistened and it lit up the world. Even after her passing, a beauty emanated from her that was indescribable.
Among the many attributes that distinguished her, one of the most noble was her embodiment of love of the human family. Mehri accepted and embraced the diversity of the human family, and this was evident in the diversity of people who were always at her home. She welcomed all into her home, and it was a refuge for anyone needing a safe place to stay. Mehri was an incredible
cook, and her generosity of spirit, and welcoming hospitality to all, made it so that people often lingered in her home, and this brought her much joy.
She never used recipes or measurements unless it was for baking. This is of great impact because we do not have her recipes to carry on. Cooking for her family and friends was one of the ways she showed her love. Sunday night dinners were Persian kababs which she made on a handmade grill, and there were always family and friends in her home. She made the most amazing Bakhlava, which never lasted more than a day, and she took great delight in making it. For Mehri, cooking was joyful, and at her gatherings, there were rarely any leftovers. Her nephew would call weekly, and he referred to her aunt’s house as ‘Hotel Mahmoodzadeh’ as often random [various] people were staying there or over who would answer the phone.
Mehri stood up for people who were treated unjustly due to their race, religion, or class. This was another one of her most outstanding qualities. While infinitely patient, she had no patience for prejudice. And her noble example embodied it in small and large ways. While not Muslim anymore, she purchased a prayer rug and kept it in the back of her store so that Muslim Americans who worked in the mall would have a clean place to pray. Both of her daughters married interracially, and she was in full support of such unions. She would interrupt racial jokes of any kind and state that she did not want nonsense said in front of her children. Friends of her daughters who were in secret interracial relationships, who were escaping unsafe homes or unsafe conditions, could always her house for as long as they needed, and she spoke up in any social setting against societal prejudices of any kind. Her heart, pure and kind, was also strong in protecting her family as well as the human family. Her children never heard her say anything prejudicial in their lives about any group of people.
Some of Mehri’s many other wonderful qualities included purity of heart, sacrificial service, nobility, grace, beauty, truthfulness, courage, joy, and humor. The word “mehr” means kindness in Persian. Her name fit her noble station perfectly. Many who knew her commented on how befitting her name was of her noble character.
Nowhere were her sacrificial efforts more evident than as a mother. Mild-tempered, loving, she treated her children with dignity and love. Mehri was the embodiment of sacrifice, putting every effort so her children would never want for anything. What was distinguished about our mother was that she never insisted or imposed herself upon us or willed her ways to us but raised and educated us to be independent thinkers. It was very important for her to never burden her children in any way. She was fiercely loved by her children. Her home was a home of peace, of love. She was truly a magical mother. Mehri was also had a great sense of humor and jokes humor and even pranks were welcome at home.
Her children sought to be always around her. Friday afternoons in Tehran going to the mall and picking up ice cream and American music was a treat. Baking with her was a treat. Traveling with her was so much fun, and she was a fantastic storyteller, although it took pulling it out of her to tell stories. Even explaining a concept in organic chemistry brought about a beautiful story from her. She would often read and interpret for us and our friends the poems of Haifez, which became a ritual of sorts. She was so elegant. Our mother was a queen. It is hard to describe the grace and elegance with which she always carried herself.
Mehri, at late age, picked up her life to move to Seattle to be with her youngest daughter Mahtab, during the demise of her marriage and in midst of a high-risk pregnancy, and stayed with her, her grandchildren until her passing. She uprooted her life and home and sacrificed herself again with no hesitation. Merhi would also live long enough to see the passing of her son-in-law, Glenn Evans. She loved her sons-in-law, and their loss in whatever form, caused her much grief and impacted her health. For Mehri, her children were her life, and she was a fierce protector for them, in gentle and quiet ways. Her example was one of grace, nobility, and purity of heart.
Mehri was an introvert and shy by nature. She showed her devotion to others through service. Her children shared their mother with their friends, as many of their friends loved Mehri and would seek her guidance and attention during their tumultuous youth years. She was also often referred to as the most cherished aunt by many of our cousins, on both sides of our family. Some of the many loving comments that been shared since the news of her passing included:
“I feel very privileged to have known your mother and having had the fortune to spend such sweet moments with her. She had a rare- rare and precious –mixture of kindness and warmth, and also of directness and dignity and naturalness. A very rare mixture of those who are truly wise. It is a testament to her exceptional personality that after so many years feel so much affection for her and remember her with so much fondness and admiration. Her laugh is still ringing in my ears, and the feeling of joy I felt in those days of being the object of her kindness is coming back to me.”
“She was the quiet strength to the family. She was a leader, intelligent, humble, calm, wise and had a great sense of humor. I remember how your home was open to everyone. Your mother was always prepping a wholesome meal for anyone who stepped foot into her home. I used to love watching your parents work together to make kabobs over the grill. They worked so well together. She loved you both fiercely. She was an example of what a loving, warm and protective mom should be. She was a Baha’i through the bones!”
“Sending our love your way, our condolences. Thank you for always sharing your parents with us. I still have memories and stories of both of them because of the love and respect that they showed us in our family, and they will always be in our prayers.”
“My Persian parents, Mehri & Amrollah… not only did they provide a safe haven in their loving home, but they also helped me cultivate bridging the gap amongst different ethnicities and language barriers that we are faced with in society. My love, gratitude and respect is infinite for both of them.
“Your home was truly like a second home to me and an entire cohort of youth and your angelic mom had a profound influence on the course of my life, and I will keep her and your beloved dad…in my heart always.”
Mehri loved to read. If she was not working or hosting, she was reading, and she enjoyed mystery novels the most. She longed to travel the world with her late husband, but due to his
untimely death, it was of great regret to her to not see the world with him. He was her beloved and her dear friend.
Merhi became a grandmother to two additional loves of her life, Marzieh and Adib. She loved them so much and would tell them so often and regularly. She never showed any emotion other than love and joy to them. Adib remarked that once he asked if she loved them more or her children, and she remarked that she loved her grandchildren more. Her grandchildren had the bounty to live with their grandmother for 12 years, up until her passing.
Mehri was a loving and devoted spouse, parent, and grandparent. She will be deeply missed by her children, Mehrshad, Maryam and Mahtab and by grandchildren, Marzieh and Adib.
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