Raana Faiz (1949-2022): Pakistani Americans in Northern California Lose an Icon
By Ras H. Siddiqui
Inna lillahi wa inna illaihey rajeoon . Sadly, we report that Sister Raana Faiz has passed away in Karachi.
She came to the United States in 1970 and subsequently made San Francisco her home for many decades. Since her arrival here, if there was anything Pakistani going on in the Bay Area, Raana was either directly involved or informing us about it via telephone calls or through the Hamrahi Radio Program which she conducted for a very long time.
She was active here in the media even before the Pakistan Link started (it arrived in this region around 30 years ago). Before that we were using the established local Indian media (India West and India Currents) to reach out to our relatively small area Pakistani community. Raana maintained a great working relationship with everyone, and it was no surprise to find her at almost all our then few Pakistani and South Asian events.
I received this information from her brother Naveed. It is with a heavy heart and profound grief that we announce the demise of our beloved sister, our phuppo and our closest friend on the 10th of March, 2022. Raana was born in Karachi, Pakistan in 1949. Her parents were from Lahore and moved to Karachi after independence. Her father was the late Faiz Ahmad who set up the Karachi branch of H. Nizam Din & Sons Tent Rental division on Burns Road. Later, he set up a factory in the SITE area to manufacture tents to become one of the largest suppliers to the Pakistan Army. In a few years it also became the first major company from Pakistan to export tents. Her mother Siddiqa Faiz was a social worker actively taking part in the All Pakistan Women’s Association (APWA) and Gul e Rana Club. Raana connected well with whomever she ever met. Her loss is deeply felt as she was a trail blazer in her own right. Never afraid to call a spade a spade!
This writer can surely vouch for the fact of the last line above. Raana would not hesitate to call people at 2:00 at night or 5:00 in the morning if she had something on her mind. During the beginning of the Pakistan Link when Faiz Rehman was the Editor/Owner, she was the one keeping me informed and planning my attendance at community programs all over this region. After cell phones came into the picture, she would call me after an event during my long drive back to Sacramento from the bay and ask for feedback on how it went and what areas to concentrate on when I was writing the report. She was almost like a family member in those days. She put her heart and soul into each effort, and it was a challenge just to keep up with her. And if she was not happy with something that I wrote she would not hesitate to tell me.
Many people will miss her. Her childhood friend (a great singer and icon) Nahid Niazi said that she knew her very well and that she was the daughter of very near and dear family friends. May she be Blessed! And longtime San Francisco based writer, the Urdu language poet of the West, Javaid Sayed said that Raana Faiz was a Pakistan patriot who stood as a stalwart spokesperson for the land of our forefathers. And she was lucky to be there (in Pakistan) when the time came to go. May Allah SWT bless her soul and grant fortitude to her friends and family to bear the loss. Talat Sattar from Elk Grove posted that Raana was a very dynamic person, and she had a very good voice. She was the first Urdu language broadcaster from San Francisco. And Attorney and Mayor of Monte Sereno, California Javed Ellahie posted that this was a tremendous loss for the community. She in fact was the entire Pakistani community all by herself and played an indispensable role in shaping the local Pakistani American community- some would say she whipped it into shape-May Allah SWT bless her soul and give peace to her family members.
Raana Faiz has left quite an imprint on our community here in northern California which is now a part of our history. One feels a deep sadness in writing these words on her passing, but we must all depart from this world someday. And it is best to leave something positive behind like Raana did. She fought cancer bravely for many years, and her one request of me was to not take her picture. I obliged and managed to receive pictures through her family this time. She was a very private person who lived by herself in the San Francisco area yet succeeded in leading a very public life. I am sure that the folks at Chandni and Mehran restaurants in Fremont-Newark will miss her tireless efforts on their behalf. I used to joke with her about finally picking a favorite between the two!
To close, as our community seniors Waheed and Sabiha Siddiqee wrote in an email, Raana was an icon of our Pakistani Muslim community in the Bay Area. She will be greatly missed! Rest in peace.
