Between the Fifth North American Zoroastrian Congress (NAZC) in 1985 and the XVII Congress in 2014, both in Los Angeles, DhunMai Dalal (pictured) who had served as co-chair of both the events had impressed her colleagues with her passion to keep
the community united. Her passing away on July 3, 2017 at her residence in Los Angeles earned her tributes from local residents of California and the wider fraternity of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA).
She has been given credit along with co-chair Farangis Shahrokh for including on the agenda of the 1985 Congress a session titled "Proposal for the organization of a North American Zoroastrian body” that gave birth to FEZANA two years later. "She had served as the first chair of the FEZANA Congress Committee with a vision to ignite and unite the spirit of communal solidarity through North American congresses,” noted a write-up by California resident Meher Amalsad. For 10 years she continued as chair of the Congress Committee.
A firm believer that congresses should "try for inclusivity,” Dalal had conveyed to Parsiana at the end of the XVII NAZC, "The major accomplishment of this Congress was to have Persian participation... After all, this region has a large Zoroastrian population in comparison to other regions of North America, especially the Persian community (see "Religion made relevant,” Parsiana, March 7, 2015).”
Actively involved in the formation of the California Zoroastrian Center in Westminster, she was a strong supporter of the Zoroastrian Association of California (ZAC) and a major donor to the ZAC Center in Orange. An avid promoter of youth leadership within the community, the philanthropist willingly offered financial assistance to several North American and World Zoroastrian Youth Congresses. She had extended her cooperation to the World Zoroastrian Organisation in London too where she served as trustee and director.
Many nonprofit organizations benefitted from her commitment including the American Youth Symphony where she served as director from 2011 to 2014. As summed up Amalsad, "DhunMai has a left a legacy of selfless service for our future generation to emulate with communal pride.”
She is survived by her husband Phiroze, sons Hormazd and Zane, and sisters Franey (Dolly) Nariman Irani and Behroze Kandawalla.