Ashis Ranjan Sanyal

Ashis Ranjan Sanyal (affectionately known as “Bacchu” by family and close friends), retired, of Tallahassee, Florida, passed away at the age of 77 at Big Bend Hospice at the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital on September 4, 2024 after a short hospital stay. Bacchu was born on December 5, 1946, shortly before India became independent, in Balihar, Naogaon District (present day Bangladesh). He was the tenth and last child of the late Ashalata and Makhan Chandra Sanyal.

Bacchu attended the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) and then emigrated to the United States in 1974 to attend the University of Houston for a master’s in management science. After graduation, he worked at various organizations, including Coca Cola, Bell Labs, AT&T, Lucent, and the Florida Department of Transportation.

In addition to Tallahassee, Bacchu lived in various cities in the United States, including Houston, Texas; Somerville, New Jersey; Dallas, Texas; and Columbus, Ohio. In each of these cities, Bacchu was incredibly involved in the Bengali cultural societies. He was the president of the Central Ohio Bengali Cultural Association (Columbus) in 1996. In Tallahassee, he realized his vision to bring the local Bengali community together by forming Muktangan in 2011. He served as the president of Muktangan during the inaugural years. Bacchu also enjoyed singing and listening to Rabindra Sangeet, playing football (soccer), and watching football (American) with friends.

Bacchu was preceded in death by his parents, sisters Meena, Reshom, and Ruby, and brothers Nirmal, Niren and Aloke. He is survived by his daughter Amrita (“Ritu”) Anna Sanyal (Bindi and Shuri); niece Jayati (“Rupa”) Singh (Hardeep, Arzu, and Armaan), his closest family member in Tallahassee; sisters Manju and Chhobi; brother Sanjib; nieces Mithu, Bultu, Ruma, Shukla, Lopa, Buri, Tuktuk, and Sujata; and nephews Dhrubo, Anondo, Madhu, Chhotu, Tata, Partha, Joey, Ranju, Gabla, and Abhro.

The family is planning a private cremation ceremony. A celebration of life will be planned at a later date. As many know, Ashis was diagnosed with schizophrenia, which is a lesser known and little understood mental health disorder, especially in the South Asian community. In lieu of flowers, please consider spending an afternoon learning about schizophrenia and/or donating to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (https://www.nami.org/) or the National Institute of Mental Health (https://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/connect-with-nimh/donate-to-mental-health-research).