Woman killed in crosswalk 'no average citizen' Woman killed in crosswalk 'no average citizen' (January 14, 2004)

Atefeh "Amy" Bijan, who died Friday after being struck by a car in a crosswalk near her home at Menlo Commons on Santa Cruz Avenue, was an active woman for her 75 years. She was a regular walker, swimmer, traveler and writer, her relatives said, and she had a passion for the arts and music, particularly Beethoven.

She had trained as a nurse and had worked with a medical center with her physician husband in Tehran, relatives said. She also founded the first nursing school in Iran, taught at the University of Tehran, and volunteered during recent hostilities in Kosovo and Moldova.

She also served at one time as a member of the Iranian Parliament, where she was an advocate for the rights of women and children, relatives said. Ms. Bijan and her family were vacationing in Spain at the time of the 1979 revolution and were advised not to return to Iran, which led to their coming to California and becoming citizens, said her son-in-law Mitchell Johnson.

During her 25 years in Menlo Park, Ms. Bijan spent 20 years as an intensive-care-unit nurse at Kaiser Hospital in Redwood City.

Her family will be holding candlelight vigils at the site of her death, her daughter Sherry said in an interview. "She was the most wonderful person on the face of the planet," she said, through tears. "This is not the loss of an average citizen."

A memorial service for Ms. Bijan is scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday, January 14, at Alta Mesa Memorial Park at 695 Arastradero Road in Palo Alto. See obituary on Page 23 .

-- David Boyce

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