Dr. Rajkumar Kadaba

He is survived by his wife of almost 39 years (Viji Kadaba), son (Ashwin) and daughter (Amrutha), daughter in-law (Stephanie) and grandkids (Aiden and Kai); stepmom (Somu), elder brothers (Seenu and Ramu) and sisters-in-laws (Manju and Brindha, respectively), father-in-law (Narayan), mother-in-law (Neelamma), sister-in-law Kala and her husband Bharath, brother-in-law Rajkumar and his wife Radhika. Other survivors include many nephews, nieces and cousins.

Raj was born in Bangalore, Karnataka State, India. He went to Maruthi Vidyalaya for schooling in his early years. He completed his Bachelors degree in Pharmacology at the Pharmacy College in Bangalore. He then moved to Chandigarh, Punjab where he completed both his Masters and Ph.D at the Post Graduate Institute. In 1979, Raj immigrated to the United States to start his career in San Antonio, Texas. He married Viji Kadaba on May 7, 1980, and moved to Denver, Colorado. After the birth of his son in 1982, Raj moved to Canada and settled down in Saskatoon. Raj spent the next 12 years working at the University of Saskatchewan. In 1986, his daughter was born. In 1994, Raj moved with his family to Winnipeg, MB to take a position with Health Sciences Center. In 1999, Raj moved to the prestigious Cleveland Clinic in the US. He made the difficult choice to move alone because his family had made Winnipeg their home. In 2003, Health Canada found him as the expert they required for assessing drug approvals and brought him back to Canada. He spent the next 16 years working at Health Canada as an Assessment Officer. In 2015, Raj chose to move back to Winnipeg, so that he could be present for the birth of his grandson Kai. He continued to work from the family home doing what he excelled in – evaluation of pharmaceutical drugs for federal approval - while helping his family in every way imaginable.

Raj was a very simple man. His joy in life was watching his family grow and develop. He truly lived for those around him, and was the most selfless person you could ever meet. He would go out of his way to do anything for the family, whether it was for his wife, his children, grandchildren or his elderly parents-in-law whom he had taken under his wings years ago.

He spent his last months on this earth travelling throughout India, and visiting family and friends (some of whom he had not seen in decades). He came back home from India on April 4, in preparation for a trip with his immediate family to The Grand at Moon Palace Resorts, Cancun, Mexico. He was very excited about this trip, as this was the first major vacation the family would take together in a tropical destination with the grand kids. He spoke about trip with anyone whom he happened to talk to. It was on the 9th day of this trip that he suddenly and tragically passed away while enjoying a spa day with his son.

Raj is dearly missed by both family and friends.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday, May 2, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. at Thomson "In the Park" Funeral Home, 1291 McGillivray Boulevard.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to a charity of your choice.