A. Serrill Headley, 68; owned Phila.'s Khyber Pass Pub

A. Serrill Headley, 68, formerly of Nottingham, Chester County, an adventuress who contributed to Philadelphia's restaurant renaissance when she opened Khyber Pass Pub in the 1970s, died of heart failure Jan. 17 at Augusta Medical Center in Waynesboro, Va.

In the early 1970s, Ms. Headley purchased a neighborhood bar on Second Street near Chestnut. She left the regulars sitting at their stools arguing politics, while she transformed the surroundings with Pakistani wedding tents and created a menu that included Indian dishes and 180 brands of domestic and imported beer. Eventually, she offered live entertainment seven nights a week, expanded to the building next door, and added a wine bar.

Ms. Headley told a reporter in 1994 that her establishment was haunted. It had been some sort of a saloon since 1876, including during Prohibition, when it was a speakeasy. "After I'm gone," she said, "I intend to come back and haunt the place myself."

In 1988, she closed Khyber Pass, blaming tax problems and her ill health. By then, Second Street had become a "boardwalk," she said, with dozens of bars, nightclubs and restaurants. The pub later reopened under new ownership.

Ms. Headley grew up on her family's farm in Maryland and in Lower Merion and graduated from Lower Merion High School. While attending the University of Maryland, she met a Pakistani diplomat, Saleem Gilani. They married, and she returned with him to Pakistan. After they divorced, she married an Afghan insurance executive, Shahzada Muslehuddin. After he died, she returned to the United States. She later married Inquirer reporter Dick Pothier. He died in 1995. She was currently married to Daniel Forrester.

After closing her restaurant, Ms. Headley earned a bachelor's degree from Temple University. In 2002, she and her son, Daood "David" Gilani, opened FliksVideo in Center City.

Since selling her Nottingham home two years ago, she spent her time traveling and visiting friends.

In addition to her son and husband, Ms. Headley is survived by a daughter, Scherezade Gilani; two brothers; and a sister.

The funeral will be at 2 p.m. tomorrow at St. John's Episcopal Church, 11040 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, Md. Burial will be in the church cemetery.