Usha S Gulati, M.D.

Usha Gulati, born March 1, 1936 in New Delhi, India, died peacefully August 11, 2026 in Beverly Hills, California. She was the middle of three children of Dr. Ram Rattan and Shanti Sachdev, growing up in Delhi, with summer visits to Simla, India that she recalled with pleasure all her life. As a child, she delighted in the family’s rooftop garden, where she kept myna birds, in her Cocker Spaniel Chinky, in the cooking of the family’s chef Kalyan Singh, and especially in time spent at her father’s ophthalmology practice near Connaught Place, Delhi. She was studious and independent, bicycling solo to school and to Christian Medical College in Ludhiana, Punjab, where she graduated at the top of her class. On May 14, 1962 she married Amar Nath Gulati. The newlyweds moved immediately to London, England to pursue their residencies. She recalled bringing a suitcase of their wedding treats with them as they started their new lives.

Sons Sanjay and Rajeev Gulati were born in 1963 and 1964. In 1972 the family moved to the U.S., living up and down the east coast. Having completed her anesthesiology residency in Great Britain, she retrained as a physiatrist at Moss Rehab in Philadelphia, specializing in spinal cord rehabilitation.

The couple loved birds and plants, adding a large conservatory to their home in North Wales, PA (which they kept as a surprise to their children!), traveling by RV around the US and internationally, to Jamaica, Russia, China, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand. Every trip added to the curated collection of distinctive and unusual items, each holding a special memory or story. Her collections reflected her curiosity, appreciation of beauty, and ability to find something interesting and meaningful wherever life took her. She became an excellent cook, making delicious elaborate dishes such as kulfi, gulab jamun, gobi aloo, muthia for others while preferring simpler fare, rice and dal, channa, and her famous toasted cheese sandwiches, for herself. She loved Mozart and Haydn, Dickens and Austen, Indian dance shows and “I Love Lucy.” Her attitude towards life was sunny, and her intellectual curiosity to learn never abated—her library contained thousands of books and articles, each carefully annotated and deeply absorbed. She was meticulous about her appearance, and always impeccably dressed. She was loved by all for her simplicity, warmth, and self-reliance.

The challenges of aging—losing her husband in 2002 and her elder brother Ravi in 2010, and developing Parkinson’s Disease, did not shake her positive approach to life. In 2021 she moved first to Amarillo, Texas, then to Claremont, California, to be near her son Rajeev. She is survived by her younger brother Anil, of Gurugram, Haryana, India, her sons, and nine grandchildren, who live in the U.S.

Usha Gulati lived a remarkable journey from a bicycle-riding young girl in Delhi to a physician who built a life and career across three continents. She will be deeply missed. He memory will live on through her children, grandchildren, family, and the many stories and cherished objects she gathered in a life richly lived.

The Hindu Ceremony will be held at Pacific Crest Cemetery Chapel, 2701 182nd Street, Redondo Beach, California, on August 24, 2026, at 10:00 am followed by a Private Witnessing of the Cremation.

For the Services, you are invited to attend in person, or you can Zoom the service using this link:

Topic: Memorial Service Usha Gulati

Time: August 24, 2026 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Please note: this is a “streaming” event only; it does not allow participation

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88257941947?pwd=aPUsxJBUCxiJgLf8wp4PYnlghaKTiv.1__;!!M2D_dUfSiN4E!OT_fj4DtBR7S0QZpJzIoh8NLyLonwQ8B-ovoOahCIDNNk3Gbda8eu5S9RBiAossUSVDJ-yTwtgspd5Bi7OrG18xqUoFam8uM$[us02web[.]zoom[.]us]

Meeting chat link

https://us02web.zoom.us/launch/jc/88257941947__;!!M2D_dUfSiN4E!OT_fj4DtBR7S0QZpJzIoh8NLyLonwQ8B-ovoOahCIDNNk3Gbda8eu5S9RBiAossUSVDJ-yTwtgspd5Bi7OrG18xqUjvg0VuR$[us02web[.]zoom[.]us]

Meeting ID: 882 5794 1947

Passcode: 073221