Dr. Soma Sundaram Avva

Soma was born in Kurnool, India, on June 10, 1941. He studied medicine at Kurnool Medical College and earned his MBBS from Sri Venkateswara University in Tirupati, followed by a Master of Surgery in general surgery from the same university. He began his career as an assistant professor of surgery at Rangaraya Medical College and assistant surgeon at the Government General Hospital in Kakinada, India.

He came to the United States in 1968 for further surgical training, completing residencies at the New York Infirmary, Grasslands Hospital in Valhalla, New York, and Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Oregon. In 1974 he and his wife, Veni, settled in Dayton, where he practiced plastic and reconstructive surgery from that year until his retirement.

In his early Dayton years, Soma saw that the Hindu families arriving alongside his own had no place to worship. He and a few other local Hindu doctors bought land in Beavercreek and gave it to the community they were trying to build. He went on to serve as the first board president of the Hindu Temple of Dayton community. The temple opened in 1984 and is the oldest Hindu temple in the Dayton area. The congregation that began with between 150 and 200 families now welcomes some 4,700 people.

His surgical skills took him around the world. He made 22 mission trips to repair cleft lips and palates, burn scars and other deformities in countries where such care was hard to obtain. He also conducted two eye camps in India, at Kurnool and at Kurupam, that together screened more than 1,200 patients and performed 155 cataract surgeries. When asked about why he did these trips, he said, "going on service trips like this, and literally seeing lives change right before your eyes once the surgery is complete, makes you want to keep going back to serve and help more children."

At home he and Veni gave through The Dayton Foundation, supporting Doctors Without Borders, the American Red Cross, Feeding America, The Foodbank, the Sankara Eye Foundation, Operation Smile and others. In 2025 he sponsored one of The Foodbank's Mobile Farmer's Market produce distributions in Dayton, a gift made in the name of the Miami Valley Physicians of Indian Origin, a local group of Indian-born doctors. He traced his giving to his family and his faith. He helped lead the Dayton chapter of AIM for Seva, an organization dedicated to providing free education, food, and housing in rural India and thereby empowering children. He sponsored schools serving students in rural Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, India. "My religion, my parents and my older brother have inspired me to give back," he said in a profile. "Hinduism teaches you to serve God, and the best way to do that is to serve His creation...Those who have the means are meant to give back," Soma wrote. "This is a cycle." Dr. Avva wanted to uphold a teaching of his guru, Swami Dayananda Saraswati - "Always be a contributor over being a consumer."

Above all, Soma was a devoted husband and father with a love for family that was encompassing. His wife, his children and his grandchildren came ahead of everything else. He made time to be with them, on family trips and in the ordinary hours at home, and his grandchildren got the largest share of that time. He taught them his values by example, holding himself to high standards, working steadily, and treating service to others who could not help themselves as an obligation. Those who knew him felt special, even while he pushed others to do their best and excel, and be loving and giving.

Soma is survived by his wife, Veni; his daughter, Rajitha Avva (Bala Hota); his son, Ramesh Avva (Kalpana Avva); and his grandchildren Krishna Hota, Madhav Hota, Vishnu Avva, and Soumya Avva. His family remembers him as "a silent visionary whose actions spoke louder than words."

Visitation will be held Friday, October 30, 2026, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Tobias Funeral Home - Far Hills Chapel, 5471 Far Hills Avenue, Dayton, Ohio 45429.

The service for Soma will be live streamed at https://client.tribucast.com/tcid/c26102163076025

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to AIM for Seva in Soma's memory. https://aimforsevausa.org/general-donation/