He was the sixth of 10 children born to Narain Sami and Asparamma Pillay. He was 78 years old. Roger emigrated with his wife and four daughters to the U.S. in 1974. For the sake of his little girls, he left extended family, friends, and his beloved Fiji to come to the U.S. which he quickly grew to love. The family resided in the Bay Area for a short time with his wife’s sister and her family before moving to the Central Valley.
Roger worked in the dairy/ag industry for most of his life. He was a firm believer in family, faith, education and hard work which he instilled in his children. His four girls and five grandchildren were the pride of his life. Roger encouraged family rituals such as the nightly news with Walter Cronkite, Monday night football and the Porter Wagner, Hee-Haw and Lawrence Welk shows. He gathered the family around for a weekly dose of Swat, Gunsmoke, and the Walton’s but his personal favorite was always Hawaii Five-0. He was an avid subscriber to the Fresno Bee, Time magazine and Readers Digest.
Roger was a lifelong Raider fan and taught his girls to love the game so that he could watch them play on Sundays and not have to take the girls to the mall. He was also a gardening addict and could often be found listening to news-talk radio and tending to his vegetables. Not a summer went by when he wasn’t delivering tomatoes, green beans, peppers, squash and eggplants to his family and friends. Roger loved to travel to Fiji, England, Canada and Australia where he spent months visiting his siblings and their families. He was a kind, compassionate, hardworking man who took an active interest in politics, sports, religion and the world around him. Roger was a completely selfless and giving man. He made many sacrifices so that he could give his family a better life and for that his children will always be grateful.
He is survived by his four daughters Ragini Pillay of Fresno, Roshini Pillay of San Francisco, Rajini Pillay Brown of Clovis and Rohini Sciacqua of Fresno. He is also survived by five grandchildren, Alexa and Giovanni Sciacqua, Dagny and Nils Wallace, Cole Rohan Brown and two son in laws, Mike Sciacqua and Neil Cole Brown, three sisters Roselyne Pillay of Australia, Parveen Gopal and Lakshmi Mudaliar both of Canada and many nieces, nephews and extended family in the U.S. and abroad. Roger was preceded in death by his late wife of 53 years, Madhvi Nair Pillay, his parents Nairain Sami and Asparamma Raghavulu Pillay, brothers Inderajan Pillay, Shri Ram Chander Pillay, Deo Raj Pillay, Wasudewan Raja Pillay, Govind Raj Pillay, and sister, Kailash Pillay. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and son and he will be so greatly missed by those he left behind. As a good friend recently and so beautifully stated, may he Rest in Peace in forever Fiji Paradise.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18