On January 30, 1939 in the coastal town of Cuddalore, India, the son of Arunachalam and Krishnaveni Thukkani was born in a humble dwelling at 31 Syrong Street. His given name was Arunachalam Chettiar Thirugnanam. Though his father was in the textile trade, he sought higher educational pursuits and matriculated at Sri Vivekananda College in Madras, completing his requisite studies there in April 1956. Following this, he aspired to a career in medicine and attended Stanley Medical College in Madras, graduating with a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1962. After his internship year at the same institution, he taught Anatomy at Pondicherry Medical College. He secured a position at St. Luke’s Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as first a general surgery resident (1963-1967) then completed additional specialized training in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, Scotland and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He returned to India to marry Parimala Ellia in 1973 and they both returned to the United States. One year later, their first child Arun Kanth Thirugnanam was born followed two years later by the arrival of his daughter, Nundhini.
Dr. Thirugnanam and Parimala then lived in McHenry, Illinois where he was employed as Thoracic Surgeon at McHenry Hospital. In 1978, they moved to Oregon where he accepted a position as a Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Emanuel Hospital in Portland and the family settled in Beaverton, Oregon.
Understandably met with confusion here in the United States with regards to the traditional naming convention employed in India, Dr. Thirugnanam formally adopted the surname of his parents. Legally known now as Dr. Thiru Gnanam Thukkani, he worked as a Cardiothoracic Surgeon in Portland, Oregon until 1997 and retired in 2001 after working at both Lima Memorial and Lima General Hospitals in Lima, Ohio.
In the following years, the Thukkani family grew as Arun married Erin (née Piontek) and Nundhini married Josh Ramseyer. In 2011, Thiru and Parimala joyfully welcomed the addition of four grandchildren to the family: Uma, Ansel, Arjun, and Aisha (in order of arrival). He resided with his loving wife in their first home in Beaverton until 2014 when the couple moved to the nearby West Slope area of Portland. The rest of his days were filled with caring for his grandchildren, enjoying his family and friends, traveling, and cheering for his beloved Green Bay Packers, Duke Blue Devils, and Roger Federer.
In 2019, family and friends fêted him for his 80th birthday. A few months later, the entire Thukkani family and the family of his nephew Sridhar Thuccani all enjoyed a European vacation together. While readying for imminent trips to see the Green Bay Packers and to visit India once more, he passed away suddenly, unexpectedly, and yet peacefully on evening of December 4, 2019. He is survived by his wife Parimala, his son Arun, his daughter Nundhini, and his four grandchildren Uma, Ansel, Arjun, and Aisha.
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