Pari Chilman

Pari Chilman, of Raleigh, NC, was born and raised in Iran, the younger of two children. Her older brother passed away in Raleigh 5 years ago. She is survived by her husband John, and children Mariam King, David Chilman and Susan Chilman, also five grandchildren., In 1955 she went to London, England to study nursing. As a nursing student she met her future husband John, who was doing an internship, following his graduation from Medical School. They were married in London in 1959, and shortly thereafter came to the U.S. where John took up residency in internal medicine with Cornell University, in Ithaca, NY. This was followed by three years Psychiatric Residency at the New York Hospital in Manhattan, NY. For over 30 years Pari and John lived in Ridgewood, NJ, where John practiced psychiatry. Pari was active in a number of community organizations, and after the children left home, worked as John’s office manager, as well as a biofeedback technician. In Ridgewood she was very active in the activities of the Baha’i Faith, as she has been all her life. Virtually all her extended family in Iran were forced to flee, to escape the extreme religious persecution that broke out after the fall of the monarchy. The fate of the Persian Baha’is is analogous to that of the Jews in Nazi Germany. Her favorite recreational pastime was Bridge, at which she was a skilled player. Over the years she has been involved in many Bridge groups, both in New Jersey and Raleigh. After John’s retirement in 1994 they moved to Raleigh, NC, to be close to their oldest daughter and first grandchild. Subsequently, to their great happiness, their two other children and their families, also settled in Raleigh. In 2014 they moved to the Cypress Retirement Community, in Raleigh. The last few months of her life were spent in the affiliated Rosewood nursing home facility. A funeral service will be held at the Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, 831 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh, NC 27604 on Saturday May 11, 2019. Gathering at 1:00 pm. Funeral service at 2:00 pm, followed by interment at Oakwood Cemetery.