BOSTON: Syed Ali Jafari, a noted educator and son of the late renowned satirical poet Syed Muhammad Jafari, passed away on June 9 in the USA after a valiant battle with cancer. Born in July 1941, he was a month short of his 80th birthday, says a statement.

An electronics engineer by profession, Ali Jafari’s real passions were education and literary pursuits. After obtaining a degree from Edinburgh University in the late 1960s, he worked for Mushko Electronics in Pakistan, representing Hewlett Packard for 25 years.

After retiring in 1996, he started a new career as a management consultant and coach and was affiliated with several universities, including as dean faculty, University of Queensland Australia (offshore campus). He also taught at Santa Clara University, California, and various institutions in Pakistan including PIDE, NUST, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Thames Business School, FAST, Bahria University, Comsats, and CASE MBA.

Syed Ali Jafari relocated to the Boston area in 2016 and was active in literary and poetry sessions here.

He was the eldest of five brothers and one sister.

Ali Jafari passed away peacefully at son S. Salman Jafari’s residence in Newbury, north of Boston. He was surrounded by his family, including wife Yasmin.

The couple, married nearly 50 years, welcomed their youngest granddaughter into the world a week earlier.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2021