Nilima Mandal

Nilima Mandal Giri passed away on Monday October 17, 2022 at the age of 88 in Montreal. She is survived by her daughter Nabanita, son Nandan, granddaughter Ava and daughter-in-law Vera Gilda. Also grieving her loss are her younger sister Anima, her double niece Anjana, sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews (by blood and of the heart), extended family and friends in Canada, India, Brazil, US and the UK. She is predeceased by her parents and her husband Dr. Narayan Chandra Giri.

She was a beloved daughter, bon/didi, pishima, wife, boudi, jethima, kakima, mamima, devoted mother, mother in-law, mashi/ auntie, dida/ amma, Nilima jee, and friend to countless others. Although she would deny it, she was also an animal lover and had a loving soft spot for Mac, Ginger, Shanti, Tiko, Pebbles and the backyard birds and groundhogs.

She was at her core, an educator who valued learning and intelligence as well as a feminist and women’s rights advocate in her work and by her actions. She was the first woman in her family to finish high school and fight to pursue higher education over an early marriage. She became a very young vice-principal and then followed her very new husband across the world to start an exciting adventure of pursuing higher education, being a wife and then a mother.

She finished university in Kolkata and then continued graduate work at Cornell and McGill, and finally became a researcher at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia.

She was a role model and inspiration to many. She was a steadying influence, example of faith and a guiding light for those who knew her. On Shanti