Bharat Bhimani

Bharat K. Bhimani, M.D., a general surgeon, died on Monday of heart failure in San Diego. He was 76 years old. He was born on April 26, 1940, in Calcutta, India. His parents died when he was very young, and he was raised by his aunt and uncle in Bombay. He graduated from Khalsa College at the University of Bombay in 1958, and entered Grant Medical College, where he met his future wife, Ela. They were married in 1963, emigrated to the US in 1964, and served as interns at Coney Island Hospital in New York. After spending 13 years in Cleveland, Ohio, they relocated to Orange County in 1978, where they joined the staff at St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange that same year. He served as a general surgeon in private practice at St. Joseph's for 35 years before retiring in 2013, and was very active in the medical community, serving as Chief of Staff in the early 1990s. He spent his final years pursuing his passions - doting on his grandchildren, traveling the world with his wife, enjoying gourmet food with good friends, continuing to be confounded by the game of golf, and expanding his already world-class stamp collection. He will be remembered by his colleagues and thousands of patients as a skilled surgeon, with a warm, affable demeanor, and a tremendous bedside manner. He will be remembered by family as a kind, generous, sweet father, husband, grandfather and dear friend. He is survived by Ela Bhimani, his wife of 53 years, his daughter Anjali of Los Angeles, his son Anish, daughter-in law Lisa, and two grandchildren, Nicholas and Isabella, all residing in Mendham, NJ. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 7, at 9:30 am at Waverley Chapel at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana. In lieu of flowers, donations can be directed to the St. Joseph Hospital Foundation (714-347-7900, or sjo.org/waystogive) in memory of Dr. Bharat Bhimani.