Mostafa Setayesh

Mostafa was born March 7, 1955, in Dezful, Iran, to his parents Jassem and Shahzadeh Setayesh. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Sara Setayesh his three children, Sarah Ashley, Jasmine, and Jassem, and his family dog of 14 years, Sammy.

Mostafa left Iran in 1977 for Dallas, TX, at the age of 21. In Dallas he attended Southern Methodist University (SMU) to pursue his degree in civil engineering. He graduated with his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Science on May 17, 1981. After graduation, Mostafa worked at two local engineering firms, Huitt-Zollars and Worrell & Associates, before embarking on his dream to create his own companies. Mostafa was a proud professional engineer (P.E.) and founded the Dimension Group in 1987, Turnkey Construction in 1990 and Prudent Development in 1996. Through the years, these three companies left their mark on the commercial real estate landscape throughout the United States. While Mostafa loved negotiating and closing deals, his passion to work was fueled by the ability to help others.

For the past three decades, Mostafa’s companies sponsored yearly Thanksgiving lunches for two Dallas homeless shelters, The Stewpot and Austin Street Shelter. The genesis of these lunches started in his house kitchen with his wife, Sara. She would cook, and Mostafa would taste test. As the companies became more successful, Mostafa would ask the shelter what people would be excited to eat, catered the meals and aimed to feed as many people as possible during these events. Whether it was someone he never met or his best friend, Mostafa used his generosity to make sure everyone felt heard.

When Mostafa was not working, he loved spending his free time creating memories. This includes, but certainly not limited to, traveling, watching movies, cracking jokes, sharing videos on WhatsApp, golfing and spending time with his friends and family.

He enjoyed staying physically active and was a long-time member of the Plano Running Club, where he solidified his friendship with dear friends Michael and Arshila Sojdie. Mostafa successfully ran nine full marathons (26.2 miles), including Chicago, Berlin, Paris and NYC twice, countless half marathons and he participated in ten MS150 bike rides. He also enjoyed spending his time at his mountain home in Edwards, CO, where he explored new hobbies such as hiking, skiing, mountain biking and trail running. Mostafa was also a life-long fan of the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks and enjoyed watching the games with family and friends.

Mostafa was a great husband, father, friend, mentor, boss, leader, uncle and brother to many. He led by example and his presence will be sorely missed. Because of his kindness, humor, persistence, perseverance and generosity, he leaves us all with many fond memories and a legacy that will continue with all the lives he touched.