Anita Mukherjee

A visitation for Anita will be held Sunday, November 3rd, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM at Bayview Fisher-Pou Chapel, 3351 Scenic Highway 90e, Pensacola, FL 32503, followed by a funeral service at 12:00 PM. She will be laid to rest at Bayview Memorial Park

Anita Mukherjee was a true angel on this Earth. She was a kind and soft-hearted soul who cared for all living beings. She poured out her love for her husband, her son, her pets, her plants, her parents, and her friends throughout her life. She was a master gardener, cook, singer, and artist. She loved planting and nourishing her garden. She was a beautiful singer with an angelic voice. She was an artist throughout her life. Her artistry manifested through her landscaping, gardening, and cooking. She had an innate ability to look at any meal and remake it on her own without looking up any recipes. Some of her favorite meals included Indian, Hispanic, Chinese, and Italian. And she was a devotee of God in all His manifestations, including Lord Shiva, Lord Krishna, and Jesus Christ. She worshipped every day and taught me how to talk to God as a friend.

She started her journey in Kolkata, India. She met her husband, Arup, at her father’s house when he was as a tenant for his job. They fell in love, married, and soon had their only son. They moved around many places in India for my father’s job before they left India in 1986 when she was 27 years old.

Arup and Anita started their journey in Knoxville, TN where my father completed his PhD at the University of Tennessee. Our family was invited to several pujas or Hindu worships in Tennessee and Atlanta, GA where my mother was asked to sing on multiple occasions.

My parents soon moved to Hays, KS in 1989 where my father found a job as a professor at Fort Hays State University. My mother taught me the discipline of homework and studying and investing in myself through education. She took her son to acting classes and watched him act in several plays at school. She trained her son in spelling where his son became the champion in multiple spelling bees at his school over multiple years and eventually made it to the rank as runner-up at the county level. She was very proud of his achievements.

Our family moved to Pensacola, FL in 1995 where my father started his work at the University of West Florida and eventually became the Chairperson of the Management Science department. My mother kept investing in me throughout the years. She took me to violin classes through middle school and high school and watched her son perform at school events. She taught me the discipline of studying to the point where I had one of the highest GPA’s in high school and graduated with two fully paid scholarships. At her home, she ultimately took care of 6 cats, 2 rabbits, many birds, many fish, and hundreds of plants and trees because she loved all living beings.

In 2018, she lost her husband after 38 years of marriage due to multiple health complications. She was overtaken by grief for a long time. Therefore, in memory of my father, she started a scholarship fund at UWF where low-income undergraduate students can invest in their own education in business school and get an opportunity to start a career that they could not have otherwise started because she valued education in her son and my father valued the philosophy of teaching a person how to fish instead of giving fish for a day. As her son, I firmly know that broken heart syndrome is a real phenomenon. Her mind ultimately influenced her body. After 6 years of grief, her body also started to decline. As her son, I sensed that she wanted to be with my father again, but she tried her best to stay alive for me.

I lost my mother on October 22, 2024 after she fought through multiple health complications. I was with her for the past year constantly and through multiple hospital visits, even though I do not live in Pensacola any longer.

I want her to know that she was the best mother that a son can ask for in this life or in multiple lives. She was the best mother to her cats. She was the best wife to my father. And she was a kind, compassionate, and soft-hearted soul to all people. She is loved, and she will be dearly missed for all my life.

Thank you, Ma.