Perviz Mancherje

Perviz Mancherje passed away peacefully at age 99 on November 6th, 2026, at her home in Alexandria, Virginia, USA. She had recently celebrated her 99th birthday in grand style with over 70 guests at her beloved Marina Towers. Shortly thereafter she became ill and was found to have widespread metastatic cancer. She chose to go home in hospice care and spent her final days surrounded by the love of friends and family.

Perviz was born in Allahabad, India in 1927 to Zoroastrian/Parsee parents. She grew up in her father‘s hotel, which catered mostly to officers of the British army. This inspired an early and lifelong love of all things British. In her youth, she attended St Mary’s Convent and was friendly with some of the children of the leaders of the Indian independence movement, including the Pandit and Nehru families. She attended the University of Allahabad, but left prior to graduation due to political unrest associated with Indian independence.

In 1951 she met and married her beloved husband Rutton Mancherje who took her back to his native South Africa where they made a life together in Cape Town. They raised three children, Cyrus, Noel and Roxanne and provided them a blissful upbringing in beautiful Cape Town.

Perviz spent a life of volunteering in multiple organizations, including the Women’s League of the Unitarian Church of Cape Town, Kupagani Soup Kitchen, Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital, the African Anglican Church of Langa, the Overseas Visitors Club (B.B.K.) and the Chiappini Street Nursery School. She was a founder and trustee of the Cape Town Eye Bank. She volunteered for the Cape Town Girl Guides (Girl Scouts) and eventually became their District Commissioner.

In the early 1980s, the family immigrated to the USA and Perviz and Rutton settled in Arlington Virginia close to her dear widowed mother Dilshad and dear sister Nargis and her family. Her spirit of volunteering continued, and she was a loyal volunteer at the Kennedy Center for over 40 years as well as at the Welcome to Washington International Club.

After her beloved husband Rutton died in 1994, Perviz moved to Marina Towers in Alexandria, Virginia where, after a period of mourning, she began a new life surrounded by new friends and neighbors. She became an integral part of the local social life and so loved the camaraderie, friendship and love of the place, she referred to it as “Paradise on the Potomac.” One of her last civic acts was to proudly vote in the 2026 midterm elections in Alexandria, Virginia.

Perviz lived her life to the full with a great sense of adventure and discovery. She traveled around the world more than once and took her children and grandchildren on many adventures including dodging charging elephants in southern Africa, hang gliding in Reunion, taking a grandson on an ultra light in the Himalayas and taking another grandson tandem skydiving (while in her 80s.) She never lost her deep love for Cape Town and continued to return there year after year, where she reconnected with beloved friends, some of whose families she had known for five generations.

She was predeceased by her beloved husband, Rutton, her sister, Nargis, and brother Shiavax. She is survived by her three children, Cyrus, Noel and Roxanne and their families as well as her grandchildren, David, Michelle, Justin, and Camille and their families, and her great grandchildren, Henry and Caroline.

Perviz has requested cremation with no funeral services. A memorial celebration of her life will be held at a future date.

What a life it was. May we all live as long and as well as she did.