Zina Madani Shoaibi

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Dear Alex, Please accept our deep regret for the loss of a very dear aunt (our Zinzin), a giving person with a good heart, a true fighter in life and an avantgarde lady with high standards of living and always with an eye for beauty. She was a fairy tale in our minds, an aunt living in a far away land in the USA, all the years of our childhood, hearing stories and good memories from our Mom whom she was her closest sister while growing up. Zinzin became our role model and a hero when Laleh and I came to the US to study and we became closer to her. Your whole family’s warm hospitality, wellcoming arms and support made our first years in the US much much easier. We had a true family. On school breaks when we flow from Boston to Norfolk she was there waiting in the airport for us everytime. She was a very kind aunt who continued to be there for us. During her lasts years, we were deeply thankful to you for how you managed to take a good care of her. We will always love her dearly and have great respect for her. Hope she rests in peace after a life with many challenges. With Love Haleh and Laleh Your cousins

As part of the Iranian community in Norfolk, we appreciated knowing Zina and Ahmad. Zina was certainly a lady ahead of her time. She was an advocate of the women’s movement and promoted Iranian culture. We will treasure their friendship forever. Janet and Hormoz Azar

Life is a temporary gift of a journey given to us by the universe. Some people use it wisely to enjoy and provide enjoyment to others as best as they can throughout their lives. When the journey is over, nothing but “good deeds” will be remembered by loved ones. Indeed I have good memories of my dear aunt Zina joon. When as a young kid I came to United States to pursue my higher education, it was the advice of Zina joon and her husband my dear uncle, the late distinguished Dr. Ahmad Shoaibi, shedding light in my path fulfilling my higher education dreams all the way till I completed my Ph.D. I remember Zina joon telling me in my graduation party that she knew how hard I had worked to complete my graduate degrees and she was proud of me. Both Zina joon and Dayee joon had considerable influence in my life. When they left Iran to pursue their own educational goals I was a teenager who thought to myself “I will follow them before long”, and that is exactly what I did. I still remember certain English words that I heard and learned their meanings first from Zina joon. One of these words was “attitude”. During one of many philosophical discussions I used to have with her I remember her saying “one’s attitude in life….” for the first time and I asked her to explain it’s meaning in the Persian language! It was Zina joon who first taught me how to make delicious Persian beef kabob and chicken kabob. I loved her beautiful garden in VA Beach, especially her fig tree. She knew how much I loved figs. She generously allowed me to pick them and eat them right in that beautiful garden. She was particularly fond of my late husband, Dr. Herbert Quigley. While Dayee joon and I used to converse in the Farsi language, she was always mindful of Herb and made sure to speak English with him so he would not feel left out. I shall never forget those delicious Thanksgiving dinners she made. We were always enjoying her flavorful & delectable food. Then walking by the ocean enjoying beautiful VA Beach. My memories with our dear Zina joon and Dayeejoon are numerous. She loved my two daughters, Narda and Paran and was proud of their achievements as they were growing up. Last but not least, as she had such a green thumb and was good in gardening, she personally made a trip a couple of times to my house all the way from VA Beach just to help me in gardening design of our home in MD. Indeed I feel I have lost another mother. I wish I had one of her beautiful paintings. She was a good artist all the way from cooking, to gardening, to painting. She had promised to give me one of her art works. but she never got around to do so. She said she wanted to give me the best one and she was still working on it. May her soul/energy be always in peace.???