Abdul Majid Qureshi
March 25, 1946-Dec. 2, 2019
Menlo Park, CA
Submitted by Shehrzad Qureshi
Majid Qureshi, a resident of Menlo Park for over 30 years, passed away on Dec. 2. He was 73.
Majid lived much of his early childhood in Iran. He went to England for secondary and high school, before returning to Pakistan and obtaining degrees in Pharmacy from FC college in Lahore and Punjab University. After working for two years in Pakistan he immigrated to the US in 1971. He graduated with a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Rutgers University, NJ in 1979. He worked in R&D for various pharmaceutical companies, including Schering-Plough and Pfizer before making the move out West with his family, settling in Menlo Park and working for over twenty years at Alza Corporation (later Johnson and Johnson). He rose to a position of Senior Director of Process Development/Technology Transfer for oral dosage before retiring in 2006.
Post retirement, his life-long passion for classical and traditional Eastern arts blossomed, including Hindustani classical music, Mughal & Persian miniature paintings, and Urdu & Farsi poetry. He was a devoted collector of recordings, manuscripts, and collectible art books and maintained an extensive and well-catalogued library. A true polyglot, he was conversant or fluent in Urdu, Punjabi, and Farsi. He regularly attended concerts and poetic symposiums to feed his passion and broaden his horizons. For the past 13 years he participated in classes and gatherings on a weekly basis that were centered on the interpretation of his favorite poet, the 13th century Sufi mystic Maulana Jalaludin Rumi.
In addition to being a connoisseur of the arts, he enjoyed watching professional tennis, international cricket, and making a daily visit to Peets Coffee in downtown Menlo Park to meet with his friends and acquaintances. He was a fan of the finer things in life. He loved traveling, museums, fine-dining & clothing, and had a particular affinity for fedora and panama hats. Nothing gave him more pleasure however than spending time with and watching his six grandchildren grow up before his eyes.
Majid was married for almost 49 years, and was the most wonderful husband, father, grandfather, mentor, and provider one could ever hope for. Majid is survived by his wife Naheed; three children, including Shehrzad Qureshi of Palo Alto, Ferhan Qureshi of Fremont, Faiza Qureshi of Los Gatos; his sister Rehana and six grandchildren - Khalil, Zak, Sahil, Laila, Hamza and Aisha. Majid was preceded in death by his father, Abdul Qadir, his mother, Saadat, and his brother, Abdul Wajid.
Majid’s was laid to rest at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto on December 3rd and his memorials to date have served as touching reminders of the kind, fun-loving, gentle, humble and compassionate man that he was.
