Hem Lata Joshi's Obituary
Hem Lata Joshi 1948 – 2009 Beloved mother, wife, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend, Hem Lata Joshi passed away on July 27th, 2009 after a brief but valiant battle with leukemia. Born in Nainital, India, Hem Lata Kala married Kailash Chandra Joshi in 1968 and moved to the United States. Her son, Himanshu, was born in 1971. In addition to her husband and son, she was the loving center of an extended family of nephews and nieces who came to America, and who all came to consider her a second mom. Hem completed graduate degrees in English literature (Agra University) and Accounting (University of Kentucky). She helped found the Bluegrass Indo-American Civic Society in Lexington, Kentucky, in support of homeless people and scholarships to the needy. She and Kailash, a retired IBM executive, were key organizing volunteers in the creation of TiE, a global entrepreneurs group, and American India Foundation, a non-profit focused on India’s development. Inspired by these efforts, Hem also co-founded and managed a successful IT services company in Silicon Valley. Hem is survived by her beloved husband Kailash, her loving son and daughter-in-law Himanshu and Sonia Joshi, and two granddaughters, Miya and Laila. She is also survived by five brothers, three sisters, and many beloved nephews and nieces. She nurtured a wide network of friends everywhere she lived, all of whom were touched and transformed by her love and compassion. Memorial services are being planned at India Community Center at Milpitas on the morning of August 8th. For those wanting to memorialize Hem’s life, the family requests contributions to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (www.lls.org) or joining the national marrow donor program (www.bethematch.org), which particularly needs an increased pool of registrants from the Indo-American and South Asian community.
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