Azra Buttar

Our vivacious and loving mother, Azra Mabel Abid Buttar, known to her friends as Aji, passed away painlessly and surrounded by her family on September 19, 2016 in St. Louis, MO.

Aji never met a stranger. She was brave, creative, intelligent, resourceful, opinionated, charming, nurturing, fully engaged with life, and spent her entire life giving. She loved fiercely. As a trained teacher who taught high school English and history in England, she believed that education is the greatest gift that can be given to the next generation. She raised four children across three countries, continents, and cultures, and instilled the belief of educationfirst in each of them. She made each of them believe they were meant to achieve great things. People followed and loved Aji devoutly because she made them feel seen and recognized. She always saw the best in people, encouraged everyone she met (from the clerk at the retail store to the nurse at the doctor's office to her many nieces, nephews, and grandchildren) to follow their goals. She was loved immediately by all who had the good fortune to meet her.

Aji was also a born innovator and problem solver. She applied her characteristic resourcefulness to a series of entrepreneurial ventures. One, Duvet Trend, presaged the later adoption across the U.S. of bedding products long popular in Europe. Another, Green Cross, was a generation ahead of its time, applying NASA research to the growing problem of indoor air pollution and remediation. She worked on documenting a series of early childhood education practices that she developed over the course of her life and applied to her children, grandchildren, and developmentally challenged young people with whom she worked as a tutor.

Aji was born on August 17, 1940 in Kapurthala, daughter to Ruth and Hameed Khan, who she missed each day she was not with them. She will join her brothers, Dibi and Chibi and leave behind her most beloved sister Gago and her youngest sister Emma. Aji leaves behind Abid, her devoted husband, friend and companion of 52 years with whom she built a successful life on three different continents. She gave her heart and soul to mothering her 4 children Rashid, Zahid, Sonny and Shahid and an adored mother-in-law to Debbie, Kim, Joey and Leah. Aji leaves behind countless people who cherished her, but perhaps none more than her most beloved niece Pina and her three sisters-in-law. Aji's crowning achievement, her reward for enduring all of life's sadnesses, was being grandmother to her nine grandchildren (Sara, Abie, Hani, Aliya, Asie, Amira, Anisa, Casimir and Shabir). She intimately knew each child, their gifts and challenges and, to her, each was perfection personified. She was completely besotted with each one and her frequent and lengthy visits will offer treasured memories. May her grandchildren forever remember their Nani and Attay as their devoted, unconditionally loving, joyful, silly, do-it-yourself, tree-climbing grandmother who was the world's best cook, an avid and irrepressible news-junkie, and a source of unending care, support and encouragement. None of us will ever be the same. May her memory be a blessing.

Graveside services will be private in Harbourton Cemetery, Hopewell Township, NJ, under the direction of the Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Flemington, NJ.