Moses Devadas Christian was born May 1, 1932 to Siromani & Job Christian at Sassoon Hospital in Pune, India. He spent most of his early life in Salisbury Park, Pune. Moses’ mother had a strong influence on his life, encouraging him to be a doctor. She would not accept any doubt or fear on his part.
He attended Spicer High School and Wadia College in Pune, then joined Christian Medical College in Vellore. While in Medical School he worked at several Mission Hospitals. He went to work at Giffard Memorial Hospital in Nuzvid as a full-fledged physician in 1962. While there he met the beautiful and spirited Lena Thomas and they got married in Nuzvid in 1964.
From there he moved to Surat Mission Hospital where daughter Brinda was born. Moses was very interested in post graduate studies so in October 1967 he, along with Lena and Brinda, moved to the United States. The first place they lived was Tucson, Arizona where he did his Internship. Then the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio to continue his Residency where Rajan was born. After that they moved to Baltimore, Maryland where he completed his Surgery Residency. In 1973 the family moved to Loma Linda, California where Moses completed his Fellowship Training in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. As part of this training he took his family to Athens, Greece with the “Heart Team” for 6 months.
He was Board Certified in “Surgery” and “Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery” in addition to getting qualified by the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) in Canada for “General Surgery” and “Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery.” He worked in the ER in various places, most notably in Palo Verde Hospital in Blythe, California, and after fulfilling mission jobs in Singapore and Jamaica he settled into practice in Beaumont, California and at San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital across the street in Banning, California.
When he was first diagnosed with cancer he considered his options and chose to go the alternative route. At the age of 60 he started running and joined the Loma Linda Lopers. When he decides to do something he does it all the way so he began to run marathons (26.2 miles) once a month, continuing for the next 20 years. His son Rajan joined him and has done 70+ marathons with him.
Work, running, and Friday night worships were his passions. Even in the last 2 months while lying in bed he talked often of going to work and planning worships. His patients were on his mind constantly, he longed to get up and go to the hospital. He missed his colleagues and patients in Banning.
He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Lena Christian, daughter Brinda & son-in-law Mark Grapin, his son Rajan Christian, grandchildren Andrea Grapin Burgess, Sara Christian, Eric Grapin, Sean Grapin, and Rachel Christian, older siblings Margaret Koilpillai and Johnson Christian, and also younger siblings Kennedy Christian, Lynden Christian, Dwight Christian, Dennis Christian, and Evangeline Christian, along with many close and loving cousins, nieces and nephews.
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