Shirlee Heda Taraki

Taraki, Shirlee Heda
Born in Chicago on April 25, 1922, died in Evanston on January 23, 2009 at age 86. Daughter of the late Leah Simon Heda and Dr. Frank Heda; sister of Roslyn Heda Barson and the late Dr. Burton Heda; mother of Lisa and Yosuf Taraki; grandmother of Ariane and Ilyas Taraki and Faris Giacaman; aunt and friend of countless others. Studied at the University of Chicago: BA in psychology (Phi Beta Kappa), MA in elementary education. In 1944 she married Mohamed Rasul Taraki, an Afghan student at Northwestern University. In 1947 she moved to Afghanistan with her husband after he completed his doctoral studies at Cornell University. During her twenty-five years in Afghanistan, Shirlee devoted herself to teaching English to girls in Kabul's public schools. After her husband's death in 1972, she returned to Evanston and worked at the Northwestern University Library until retirement in 1990. In Evanston, she was active in various organizations including NOW, the Women's Liberation Center, Amnesty International, and the Evanston Commission on Aging. She also took up biking, cross-country skiing, folk dancing, and many other pursuits. Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, she became involved in relief work with Afghan refugees in the Chicago area, serving as co-chair of the Afghanistan Reconstruction Support Committee and coordinator of the Afghan Women's Task Force. Shirlee will be remembered as a very independent person who gave generously of herself and demanded little of others. She touched the lives of many people and will be dearly missed by those who knew her. Memorial service will be held 4-6 pm on Sunday February 8 at the Levy Center located at 300 Dodge Avenue in Evanston.