Chandra Sekhar passed away Monday, February 19, 2024, at the age of 86 years, after battling complications from a post-surgery staph infection.  He died peacefully surrounded by his community and devoted family – including his loving wife of 59 years Saraswathi; his daughter Sashikala, his son Giridhar, and his son Ravichandran. He is also survived by his grandchildren Maya Jasmine Sekhar and Rohan Giri Sekhar.

Chandra was born on December 21, 1937, in the city of Chennai, State of Tamil Nadu, India.  He was the youngest of five children born to his parents Ramachandran Iyer and Brigannayaki Ammal.  He was the last of the siblings — his brother Srinivasan and sisters Sundaramba, Mani, and Vatsala.  As the youngest, he enjoyed the special attention and pampering from his elder siblings.

Chandra was at the vanguard of the fearless first generation of Indians who left the old world for the new world, and founded the platform upon which successive immigrants followed.  He first trained as an electrical engineer at the Madras Institute of Technology and afterwards, he obtained his Master's Degree from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1965, he married a beautiful girl who lived across the street from him in the city of Kumbakonam named Saraswathi.

Ten days after the marriage, the newlyweds settled in the Northwest Indiana region, after he was hired as a professor at Purdue University Calumet. In 1975, he bought a house in Munster, Indiana when the town still had farmland. He greeted and assisted newly arriving Indian families to this region where thousands of us live today.  Chandra was the Director of Biomedical Engineering at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago for 20 years, before returning to Purdue Calumet as the Chairman of the Department of Electrical Engineering Technology.

Behind his modest and serene exterior, his hobby was stock market investing, where he displayed incredible acumen and foresight. His calming presence could soothe any dog or cat, who would sit calmly at his side. Although he traveled all over the world, his favorite place to be was at home, eating sambar, listening to CNBC, calling his kids and grandkids, feeding a pet, or meeting his friends at Panera or Taco Bell.

On Thursday, February 22, a wake will be held for Chandra from 2-4pm, followed by a religious ceremony and cremation, 4-5pm at Solan-Pruzin Funeral Home & Crematory located at 14 Kennedy Avenue, Schererville, IN 46375.