Shootings Stun Couple’s Friends and Customers

Beneath an overcast sky, bright bouquets of flowers were tenderly placed in front of the locked doors of Baskin-Robbins on Tuesday. One card read: “For a kind and generous woman--our hearts are full of sorrow.”

The tributes were left by some of the many friends and customers who were shocked and tearful over the shooting of the kindly middle-aged couple who ran the ice cream shop, Firooz and Simindokht Roshdieh.

They had escaped political upheaval in Iran with their two children 10 years ago, and had moved to Southern California to rebuild their lives.

Their world revolved around their shop at 247 Broadway, just east of Pacific Coast Highway in the city’s commercial hub, where for four years they worked 12-hour days, usually seven days a week, taking a break only on Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Ali, the couple’s son (also known as Nick), dished ice cream at the shop while attending college. Sometimes on holidays, their daughter, Nilo, a University of Kentucky graduate who worked as a mechanical engineer, also lent a hand.

“They were determined to have their own business and make it work,” said a relative who asked not to be named.

It all ended late Monday night, when a robber shot the couple, killing Simindokht, 52, and seriously wounding Firooz, 63, after the couple had refused to turn over money from the cash register.

By the next morning, the shock and sadness were almost palpable.

Teresa Nelson, 30, came by the ice cream parlor with her 8-month-old son, Joseph, to leave flowers. She recalled the time she went in to buy ice cream and discovered she’d forgotten to bring money. Simindokht said “ ‘Don’t worry, pay us next time,’ ” Nelson recalled.

In downtown Laguna Beach, the couple were known for their friendly, outgoing manner, always asking after customers’ babies and taking walks around town to greet friends and fellow merchants.

Robert Sarhadar, who eight months ago opened Chantilly, another Laguna Beach ice cream shop, said Firooz gave him helpful advice, even though they were direct business competitors. Sarhadar, who is also Iranian, said Firooz was highly educated and had held an important position in the shah of Iran’s oil company before the shah was deposed in 1979.

“He said it was hard to come down from a high position and start an ice cream shop,” Sarhadar said. “He had a very, very good life back home and they lost a lot.”

Although the couple loved America, they were also homesick, said the relative with whom they had lived in Kentucky after arriving from Tehran. She said they decided to relocate to Southern California four years ago because of the large Iranian community here.

Both husband and wife also were known for a strong streak of stubbornness and determination.

The relative said Simindokht, known by the family as Sissi, was “a fighter” who had joined other women in the streets of Tehran to protest the leadership of the Ayatollah Khomeini. It wasn’t surprising, she said, that the feisty redhead had resisted being robbed.

Sissi was “the glue that kept the family together,” the relative said, adding that Firooz, who was still listed in critical condition at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center, said “he doesn’t know what he will do without her.”

“You get the impression their life was each other and that ice cream store,” said Ron Paradis , owner of Johnny Rockets, which is around the corner from the Baskin-Robbins.

In their Aliso Viejo neighborhood, the couple were often seen together in the mornings walking their German shepherd.

“They were always together. You can see when people are happy,” said Miriam Laird, 35, who lives across the street in the same tract of two-story Mediterranean-style homes.

Laird said when her car broke down, Firooz repaired it for her.

“When I was pregnant, they had a shower for me,” she added. “And when I would go for ice cream, they wouldn’t let me pay. They said we were friends.

“I can’t believe it happened to such nice people,” she said, fighting back tears.

Times correspondent Leslie Earnest contributed to this report.