Luz “Dee” Zenaida Cynthia Rebecca Beltran Elfiki died peacefully at home with family on June 27, 2024 at the age of 75.

Dee was born November 18, 1948 in Manila, Philippines to Ruben Quinto Beltran and Manuela Sambat, both originally from the province of Pampanga.  Her lifelong nickname was a play on her given name, which means “light” in Spanish: hence, “delight”.  Her parents instilled in her and her seven siblings a reverence for learning, expressed in the aphorism: “Your education is your inheritance.”  Dee attended the University of the Philippines on scholarship, and subsequently left Manila for Manchester, England to study Economics at the graduate level.

During her studies, she met Taimoor Ali Elfiki, a Turkish-Egyptian man; they were engaged within three months.  Her family was supportive of their interracial and interfaith marriage, as well as her moving across the world to start their life together.  She and Taimoor lived in England and Kuwait before migrating to St. Louis in 1980 while expecting their first child.  They had two children together, Yusef Omar and Amina Shareef Ali.  In 1989 the family became part of the Ethical Society, where Dee found a chosen sisterhood that would last for the rest of her life.

Taimoor passed away in 1994.  In the years that followed, Dee became a financial advisor.  After becoming financially literate as a widowed mother, helping others facing similar hardships gave her a great sense of purpose.  In 1998, she remarried to Jim Moore.  They spent twenty-six years together, launching both children to college, careers and families of their own, building a home in Kirkwood, and traveling the world.  Jim was a relentless support since her diagnosis with cancer early this year.

Dee is survived by Jim, Yusef and Amina; her sisters Agnes Gloria, Maria Fé Aurora, Maria Concepción, Beatrice Barbara Bettina, and Lilia Myra Monina; and her grandchildren Hazel Latif, Matilda Ali, Malik Ali and Memphis Ali.  She was preceded in death by her parents and her siblings Victor Antonio Floro and Rosa Maria Florencia.  Her ashes will be laid to rest in Our Redeemer Cemetery and a family plot in the Philippines.

For those wishing to express condolences and remembrances, the family will be receiving guests on Sunday, June 30 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at St. Louis Cremation, 320 Jungermann Rd, St. Peters, MO 63376.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Ethical Society or Annie’s Hope.