Sushil Kumar Bannerjee

Sushil Kumar Bannerjee, 79, of Dartmouth, (Nova Scotia) Mi’km’aki, passed away on April 14, 2023. Sushil was born on November 4, 1943, to Mohan Lal Bannerjee and Vida Adiel in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, during British occupied India. He grew up in a loving household with extended family and his siblings, Reena (Kartar), Anil (Catherine), Nutan Bala (Ashwani). He enjoyed Sunday school and served as an altar boy in his local Anglican church, St. John Wilderness. As a teenager, he volunteered in the British Mission compound in a doctor’s dispensary. He played field hockey at St. Paul’s Mission High School graduating with top honours, earning a scholarship to attend Punjab State University in Batala. He then served in the Indian army as a civil servant, transferring to Mumbai, Jalandar and Yol Camp during his tenure. He later taught in a one room primary school in Brindaban village, HP.

It was in February 1975 that he married Jamila Nardean in a civil ceremony in Delhi, India and then celebrated the union with family, one month after arriving in Canada, in April 1975, at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Halifax, Canada. They welcomed their daughter Rohini Reena (Karim) in 1976 and son Robin Rohit (Sheri) in 1980. Sushil was Manager of the Famous Players cinema when Star Wars and Grease were the top films of the day. In the same Penhorn Mall, he helped manage Maharani Boutique. Sushil then joined the QEII, where he was lovingly known as Sam, and served in Facilities Planning at both the Camp Hill and Victoria General sites for 35 years, until he retired.

Sushil loved packing up his family for a drive to New York State to reunite with his extended matrilineal family from Pakistan, a family he did not know existed when he was growing up because of displacement before Partition. He was overjoyed to have his mother Vida meet her nieces and nephews and perhaps unknowingly, rewrite some of the painful history of Partition.

Sushil enjoyed music of all genres, including British rockers Pink Floyd and Peter Gabriel, Irish singers Enya and Dolores O’Riordan, Canadian icons Céline Dion and Drake, American artists Michael Jackson and Louis Armstrong, Indian ghazal singer Jagjit Singh and Pakistani Qawwali master Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Listening to CBC radio and in particular, Don Connelly, sprinkled with a little A-Ha or Annie Lennox, whilst crossing the MacDonald bridge to Halifax for work and school, was part of his daily routine for both him and his children.

From tinkering with his iconic 300D Turbo Diesel Mercedes, to watching the BBC news and stand-up comedy, to practicing his self-taught harmonium, Sushil enjoyed being at home. Sushil loved eating Jamila’s chapatis and sabzi and always preferred her Christmas lamb yakni pilau over any restaurant version. However, his greatest joy was exchanging stories about his grandsons, Ishan, Vikesh and Suvan with his samadhi, Badrudin and María Mukhida.

Sushil was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Reena, his brother Anil and his beloved Border Collie, Rudy.

Sushil was very proud that his two children attended Sacred Heart School of Halifax. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Bursary Fund at Sacred Heart, of which his own daughter was a beneficiary. A bursary in music will be established in his name (www.shsh.ca).

His wife Jamila, a retired nurse, lovingly known as Jem, cared for Sushil at home, with incredible humility and grace. Many thanks to the EHS paramedics and ER staff at the Dartmouth General Hospital for their compassion.

A private funeral and cremation ceremony occurred on Thursday, April 20th. As per Sushil’s wishes, his remains will travel to India in the fall. Online condolences maybe sent through: www.mattatallfuneralhome.com