Bithika "Gouri" Bhattacharya, 80, of Tucson, died Tuesday, January 15, 2019, at the Tucson Medical Center ICU after a year-long struggle with cancer. Daughter of Binoy and Leela Banerjee, she was born in the former East Bengal state of India on October 14, 1938, and was a high school teacher in Kolkata before immigrating to the United States in 1967.
Over the years Gouri lived in Berkeley, CA, Bloomington, IN, and Tucson, AZ, and at the time of her death she was a prominent member of the Tucson Bengali community, which greatly admired her for her delicious Bengali cooking, serenity, and sound advice.
Gouri was the beloved wife of Rabi Bhattacharya, and is survived by her husband, three brothers, daughter and son-in-law Urmi and Scott Holz, son and daughter-in-law Deepta and Martha Bhattacharya, grandsons Ankur, Kavi, and Theeran, and granddaughter Moyna.
A private cremation service will be held on Wednesday, January 23, followed by a public memorial service on Saturday, January 26, 1:30PM, at East Lawn Palms Mortuary in Tucson.