

T.S. Gopalakrishnan (known to some friends and colleagues as Fred Gopal) passed away peacefully on January 2, 2023 at the age of 78, at Transitions LifeCare in Raleigh listening to the Indian classical music he loved.
He grew up in Chennai, India, and remained in India through university before immigrating to the United States in 1966 at the age of 22 to attend graduate school at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. To support himself through graduate school, he pumped gasoline and did other manual jobs in addition to acclimating to the bitter cold and a new country in the midst of social unrest due to racial inequality and the Vietnam War.
After finishing his engineering degree, he began working in the Detroit automotive industry, returned to India to marry in 1970, and came back to Detroit to settle with his new wife Nalini. He eventually settled in Cary, North Carolina in 1980 where he spent the longest chapter of his life, recruited to work at Carter Weber in Sanford, North Carolina, which then became Magneti Marelli, and where he would eventually serve as President and CEO.
During his time in North Carolina, he was known as a loving husband and father, avid golfer, innovative and pioneering businessman of color, and pillar of the growing South Indian community including its arts and religious organizations. He was a mentor and champion for newly arrived immigrants, including scores of his nephews and nieces as well as those not related to him by blood. Those remembering him consistently describe his generosity, warmth, love, wisdom, and support, which was typically offered when recipients needed it most and were least certain where else to turn.
He is survived by his wife (Nalini), daughter (Sandhya), son and daughter-in-law (Satish and Shelley), three grandchildren (Malaika, Aveer, Zuri), and two granddogs (Milo, Cornelius), all of whom he loved and who loved him immensely.
Last rites and visitation with his family will be at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home in Cary on Friday January 6, 2023 at 10:30am.
Donations can be made in his honor to Sri Venkateswara Temple of North Carolina.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.BrownWynneCary.com for the Gopalakrishnan family.
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