Jehan Raheem Obituary (1935 - 2023) - Springfield, Virginia

Jehan Raheem, husband of Eleanor Margaret Raheem, of Springfield, VA passed away quietly in his home, from cancer, on the 24th of October. Jehan loved his family, his friends, food, birding, walks, books, maps, and music. He was blessed with extraordinary long range eyesight, a penetrating mind, a tremendous gift for hosting, considerable charm, and a dry sense of humor. He adored chilli sauces of all national origins, lived in 12 houses, five countries, and two continents, and worked and traveled in every continent except Antarctica. He was one of the best read and most traveled people you could hope to meet. His favorite pieces of music were the Sinatra version of “Without a Song,” and Chopin’s waltz in A minor. He was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka on the 19th of June, 1935 in what he describes as a “small Muslim enclave” in that city. He was the oldest child of MMA and Ayesha Raheem, both of whom were also born in Jaffna. The family had moved to a “Dickensian world of Law Courts and lawyers’ offices” in the Hulftsdorp neighborhood in Colombo, the capital, in 1934. Jehan’s mother, Ayesha, returned to Jaffna to give birth to her first son. They eventually settled in the Kollupitiya neighborhood in 1956, at the well-known family home at 19 Clifford Road, now renamed Colonel T.G. Jayawardene Mawatha. Along with his eight siblings, Jehan spent much of his youth and young manhood in that lovely, spacious house. He attended Royal College, a high school in Colombo, and maintained many long friendships from that time. He started at Royal in 1940, was moved back to Jaffna to get away from the Japanese bombing of Colombo, and returned a year later. While at Royal he was part of a group of friends who called themselves “The Buccaneers,” played rugby, and won the General Knowledge Prize as a senior. He would spend long holidays with his family at their country house in the “up-country” village of Borolanda, walking several miles to get there from the nearest train station. In 1955, he went on to the main University campus in Peradeniya, near the ancient city of Kandy, where he majored in economics. After college, in addition to working, Jehan was part of a thriving theatrical scene in Colombo. He had apparently begun his interest in plays while on long family holidays in Borolanda, directing his siblings and friends in reenactments of famous historical events. He pursued and completed his exam for his chartered accountancy in 1961. After a spell working as an accountant for Cargill’s, a department store, he was convinced to apply for a Fulbright Fellowship, which took him to the US, where he arrived on 28 August, 1964, to pursue a graduate degree which he finished at Baruch College with high honors in 1970. He started to work at the United Nations in 1966, where he worked for the next 29 years. Many of his friends and colleagues from his time at the UN spoke of his incredible commitment to not only the mechanisms of international development, but to its recipients, the people who lived in all the countries where he worked. He met Eleanor Margaret Decherd on 22 February, 1967 in New York City, which was to become the locus of much of their lives together. They were married on August 31, 1969. They had two children, Murad and Nejem, before moving to Kathmandu, Nepal in 1974, arriving just in time for the coronation of the new king. Working as the deputy Resident Representative for the UN Development Programme, Jehan (and Eleanor) traveled throughout Nepal and hosted and attended many diplomatic parties. Jehan also directed several plays starring various members of the diplomatic community. The family moved to Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 1979, where Jehan became the Resident Representative of the UNDP in Bangladesh. The family continued to host wonderful lawn parties under “shamiyana” tents, and Jehan continued to direct plays and musicals. Jehan also worked very hard to ensure increased access to potable water, hydroelectric power, vaccinations, literacy, birth control, and all the other outputs of UN projects. In 1981, the family moved back to New York, settling in the suburb of Pelham where they lived until 2000. They lived at 85 Clifford Avenue, a road which shared the name of Jehan’s childhood home on Clifford Road. Jehan continued to work at the UNDP, including being appointed the first head of evaluation in the newly-formed Bureau of Policy and Programme Evaluation. He and Eleanor moved to Yangon, then-capital of Myanmar, to head up the UN system in that country, from 1990 to 1993. While in Myanmar, Jehan was featured on the front page of the New York Times, pouring tea for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who had recently been put under house arrest. This was one of the many fraught political events he took part in during his time there. They then moved back to New York, where Jehan retired from the UN system in 1995. Throughout this period, the whole family would visit Sri Lanka every two years, through the UN system of “home leave.” On the early trips, the family would travel from Nepal or Bangladesh through India (Calcutta, Delhi, Madras, Trivandrum), often by rail, on the way to Sri Lanka. Later, when the family lived in the US, these trips would become baroque affairs involving travel to Italy, Ethiopia, Singapore, Japan, Australia…..and many other countries. Jehan always made sure that the family would visit ‘important’ sites such as museums and palaces, and would also often stay with UN colleagues, soaking up a somewhat curated view of local culture. Food was always central to these experiences, as was continued connections to the Sri Lankan part of the family. Jehan made sure his children grew up knowing their extended family well. In retirement he taught at the Sustainable International Development program at Brandeis University’s Heller School in Waltham, MA, where he developed their first ever course on human rights. He also taught at the Clinton School of Government at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, where he helped that program develop an understanding of why poverty endures despite ongoing interventions. One of the highlights of his time teaching was sitting on a panel with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. There is still a lovely photograph of the two of them laughing together. Jehan and Eleanor continued to travel extensively after he retired, visiting family and old friends in all corners of the world. They also would travel considerable distances to watch birds, including hawk migrations in upstate New York and the upper peninsula of Michigan, and redknots off Bombay Hook. Jehan and Eleanor moved to Ossining, New York in 2001, where they lived for 21 years. This served as the base for many travels both in the US and outside. In March of 2022, they followed their grandchildren to the suburbs of Washington, DC, settling in West Springfield, Virginia. Jehan passed away there in the care of his wife and family and the wonderful staff of Goodwin Hospice. He is survived by his wife, Eleanor, and his children: Murad Raheem, his wife Jamie, and their children Leyla and Zaid; Nejem Raheem and his wife Carol. He is also survived by his brother Ghazali and his family; his sister Ryhana; his sister Yasmin; his brother Omar and his family; his brother Ismeth and his family; and his sister Gulnar and her family. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Goodwin Hospice Foundation. Click this link to view additional details about Jehan's Services: https://my.gather.app/remember/jehan-raheem