Notes for Mushtaque Ahmed Junejo

Family Group Sheet

Notes for Mushtaque Ahmed Junejo

Mushtaque Ahmed Junejo, Leader In Muslim Community
By Carole Beers
Seattle Times Staff Reporter
Mushtaque Ahmed Junejo, a veteran Boeing aeronautical engineer, had scaled the major peaks of North America, including Mount McKinley and Mount Rainier.
He led climbs of icy heights in Japan, Russia and New Zealand.
He had even faced the Himalayas' K2, second-largest peak in the world.
But the biggest mountain he ever conquered was personal: He challenged prejudice about his Muslim heritage every step of the way from his native India to his adopted United States.
And he did so with gusto, generosity and glowing faith.
That he helped found Idriss Mosque, Seattle's only Muslim house of worship as well as the Islamic School of Seattle, shows his was not a solitary ascent.
Mr. Junejo died of a heart attack last Saturday, June 1. He was 64.
"He was born in Ridmalsar, India, to a Muslim family," said his second wife, Lynne Vigesaa of Seattle. "In 1947, at the time of partition, his family had to flee to a refugee camp in Pakistan because the area was Hindu."
When his mother died, he joined the Pakistani Air Force to support the family. In 1955, he came to the United States to earn master's degrees in civil and aeronautical engineering from Indiana University and Purdue University.
In 1962 he moved to Seattle to work for Boeing. He retired last year.
"He was truly a pioneer because when he moved here there were only three Muslim families in the greater Puget Sound area," said Vigesaa. "He helped bring most of his family here and was very supportive of the Muslim community as well as other people."
Mr. Junejo's energy and curiosity seemed unlimited - he also ran marathons, played squash and bicycled. He also enjoyed reading, and often was reading five books at a time.
"He was an open person, a free spirit, not a traditional Muslim, but strong in his faith," said his son, Aziz Junejo of Seattle. "He really thought Islam was getting a bad rap. People talked about the wrath of God and not the goodness of God."
Mr. Junejo's other survivors include his first wife, Irene Junejo; his daughter Yasmeen Junejo; his brothers Munir Junejo, Manzoor Junejo and Mahfooz Junejo, all of Seattle; his brother Majid Junejo, Bahawalpur, Pakistan; his sister, Hanifa Banu of Hyderabad, Pakistan; and four grandchildren.
Services are at 2 p.m. tomorrow at 6240 79th Ave. S.E., Mercer Island.
Remembrances may go to the Islamic School of Seattle, P.O. Box 22956, Seattle, WA, 98122.