Her picture is cast in candlelight in her family’s living room: Mana Yazdanpanah, a passionate young woman remembered as a loving friend, daughter, sister and aunt who always put her family first.
She died early last week, at 18 years old, in a car accident on Route 115.
On Aug. 8, Yazdanpanah, a recent Windham graduate and Iranian immigrant, left her house on Running Brook Road at around 4:30 a.m. for work at her sister’s restaurant in Biddeford.
Twenty minutes later, a passing motorist spotted the wreckage of her car off Route 115 near Brand Road.
Local police are still investigating the crash. Windham Police Sgt. Peter Fulton, who responded to the crash scene last Tuesday morning, speculates that Yazdanpanah lost control of her car and crossed the centerline before driving off the road, spinning around and hitting a large tree. The crash ejected her from the car and she was pronounced dead on the scene.
An extended family of brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews and nieces have come together to mourn the loss of their beloved friend and relative.
Together, they drink traditional black tea and sit silent as the patriarch, Yazdanpanah’s father Jamaludin, lies with stitches in his chest from recent open-heart surgery.
Yazdanpanah had visited him in hospital the day before she died and planned to drop by after work on the day of the crash.
Jamaludin and his wife Sayedeh speak little English, but their son, and Yazdanpanah’s brother, Payama, translates their sentiments.
“She was a loving child,” Jamaludin said. “She wasn’t so much outgoing, but she was always trying to help out the family.”
The Yazdanpanah family came to the United States in 1997 after suffering religious persecution in Iran for their Baha’i faith.
At 8 years old, Yazdanpanah and her family escaped from Iran to Pakistan by bribing a man to get them across the border.
They lived for two years in Pakistan while waiting for their U.S. visas before joining Payama in Portland. They later moved to Windham in 2003.
Yazdanpanah graduated with honors from Windham High School this spring, a member of the Math Club and Latin Club, and planned to attend the University of Southern Maine this fall.
She loved animals, though her family owned no pets, and aspired to someday be a veterinarian.
During the summer, Yazdanpanah had worked at her older sister Mandana’s restaurant in Biddeford, the Dry Dock. She planned to spend her earnings on new furniture for her parents.
Since her death, customers of the restaurant have come in asking about what happened to their favorite waitress, her brother Hooman said.
Yazdanpanah and her sister Mandana had a close relationship. In addition to working at her restaurant, she taught her sister English and helped her to speak the language. She often took care of Mandana’s children Roya and Radfar and loved them dearly, said Payama.
Payama remembers her sister as a passionate and intelligent woman who was dedicated to the Baha’i faith.
Yazdanpanah attended weekly Roohi classes in Portland to learn more about the religion and would pass on this knowledge to her older brother.
Baha’i faith is based on three fundamental beliefs: oneness of God, oneness of humanity and oneness of religion. It is a faith that believes everyone is created equal, Payama said, that recognizes all religions and believes different religious prophets like Moses, Jesus and Zoraster were all messengers sent by God to teach people right from wrong.
Yazdanpanah used to say these prophets were different teachers of different times in the history of mankind, Payama said.
She enjoyed the feasts her family held with Baha’i families from Gorham and Gray where they discussed their faith and how to make the world a better place.
Many people from the Baha’i community paid their respects to Yazdanpanah at her funeral on Saturday.
“We really miss her,” Payama said. “She left her body, but she’s still here in spirit all around. She will always be in our hearts.”
Mana Yazdanpanah, an Iranian immigrant to Maine, lost her life last week when the car she was driving went off Route 115. She was a 2006 Windham High School graduate and spent much time with her extended family.Send questions/comments to the editors.
