Josephine (Durkatz) Arasteh
June 15, 1925 - August 8, 2011
Josephine Louise Durkatz Arasteh, a researcher, humanitarian, pragmatist, feminist, activist, and mother, was born in Detroit, MI June 15, 1925, and passed away in Berkeley, CA on August 8, 2011 at the age of 86.
Born to Joseph Durkatz (ne Durkaletz) and Louise Schwass, Josephine received her B.S. in Zoology and M.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She pursued further studies in Child Development at the Merrill-Palmer Institute, Detroit. Traveling to Iran in 1956, she taught English at the Iran-American Society, returning to Detroit in 1957 to marry Iranian professor A. Reza Arasteh. In 1960 she received her PhD in Human Development from the University of Chicago presenting her dissertation on Iranian family life in a changing society. She and her husband started a family of their own with the birth of son Dariush, followed by daughter Roya.
Dr. Arasteh made voluminous contributions to the fields of family sociology and child development. She worked as a research associate (1951-53) at the Fels Institute in Ohio on the Fels Longitudinal Study, tracking child growth and development. She served as Health Science Administrator (1977-86) at the Human Learning and Behavior Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Development in Washington, DC furthering the study of cognitive and social development in children and providing scientists with constructive criticism and guidance through grant application processes. Her work sharpened awareness of the deleterious effects of tobacco and spurred national health legislation, along with health education programs for youth.
Following her divorce in 1987, Dr. Arasteh moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. She worked as a Research Associate at U. C. Berkeley’s Institute for Human Development on its Family Socialization Project (198691). She was a member of the State of California’s Joint Select Task Force on the Changing Family and edited its proceedings. At the California School of Professional Psychology she served on the Human Subjects Committee and worked as an adjunct faculty member (1988-2000). Also at CSPP, she enjoyed working closely with PhD candidates on their dissertation committees, providing practical and moral support. She eagerly dove into the disability rights movement and enthusiastically worked at nationally-renown non-profit, Through The Looking Glass, where her many passions met in research, training, empowerment, and services for families where a parent or child has a disability.
Her published writings include coauthored books “Child Health Behavior: A Behavioral Pediatrics Perspective” (1986) and “Impact of Divorce, Single Parenting and Step-parenting on Children” (1988), as well as numerous journal articles. She collaborated with her husband on ten published books including “Man and Society in Iran” (1964), “Faces of Persian Youth” (1970) and “Rumi the Persian, the Sufi” (1974).
She was awarded the Outstanding Performance Award from the NIH in 1986 for her work as Health Scientist Administrator. From 1984-86, she received recognition from the Executive Board, Federal Interagency Panel for Research and Development on Children & Adolescents.
Dr. Arasteh remained politically active her entire life. She volunteered for California Congressman Ronald V. Dellums and worked for the causes of single-payer health care, and peace in the Middle East. She was a proud supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Middle East Children’s Alliance, Doctors Without Borders, public television station KQED and public radio station KPFA. Living with arthritis, she advocated tirelessly for a warm-water therapy pool in Berkeley’s Senior/Disabled Swimmers Aquatics Program. In her spare time she enjoyed reading, hiking, art, music, and theater.
A life-long champion of human and civil rights, she believed that everyone-especially children--should be allowed to reach his or her full potential. While intensely practical, she possessed true kindness and always had time to listen respectfully and counsel those who came to her with concerns. Until the end, she was feisty, intellectually curious, politically aware, firm in her convictions, engaged with all going on around her, and appreciative of life’s little absurdities.
After five years of breast cancer, Dr. Arasteh died peacefully in her home survived by son Dariush K. Arasteh (August 26, 1960-February 3, 2012); daughter Roya L. Arasteh; daughter-in-law Nancy I. Hendrickson; grandson Jasper A. H. Arasteh; niece Bibi Arasteh and numerous nieces and nephews worldwide. Donations in her memory can me made to Through the Looking Glass 3075 Adeline St., Ste. 120. Berkeley, CA 94703. www. lookingglass.org. “When one door closes,” she often said, “another one opens.”