Gurbachan Singh Brar

Gurbachan Singh Brar, known to the family as Pitaji, was born in Punjab, India on January 3, 1924. He was the eldest of six children, four brothers and two sisters. His dad was a farmer and he grew up in a farming community. He was the first person in the village to go to college and obtained several scholarships during his studies. He was awarded a degree in Civil Engineering. After his studies he had a long and very successful career working for the Punjab Government in India.

He married Jaswant Kaur Brar at age twenty. His whole life was dedicated to provide the best possible opportunities for his family. He was so happy when all his children received university degrees.

He loved to write poetry and one of his famous poems described his travel from village to the engineering college in a witty and humorous fashion. He liked to read and play chess with his grandkids. He enjoyed long walks and everyone in the neighborhood knew him. He was very knowledgeable and loved to carry on conversations with anyone he met on any topic.

After his retirement he moved to the United States to be with his children and grandchildren. Pitaji was so proud of his five children: Surinder, Jatinder and Varinder – all engineers and Manjeet and Daljeet – school teachers. He was happy of the successes of his seven grandchildren: Robinder and Gurtej, engineers, Gurbinder, chartered accountant, Naveen, journalist, Kirn, business developer, Randee, administrative banking, Jessica, a lawyer and thrilled to be a great grandfather to baby Ilayda.

“Bless our father, wrapped in Your loving arms. May Your Light give him comfort and peace.”