Our father was born on July 12, 1938 in Mungunda, Andhra Pradesh to Krishna Mohan and Venkata Lakshmi. He was the eldest of their four children and grew up reading periodicals from around the world, many of which were printed on his parents’ own printing press. In 1959, our father became the first in his family to graduate from college by attaining his Bachelor’s degree at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur. At IIT, he was named university chess champion and laid the foundations for his career in architecture.
On December 10, 1963, our father married his late wife, Surya Kumari Dharnipragada. Soon thereafter, they had two daughters, Nivedita and Nirupama. The young family began their lives in India before emigrating to the United States in 1971. After celebrating the completion of his daughters’ education and their marriages to Vijay Subbarao and Jerry Krishnan, our father resettled to Bear, Delaware.
Our father was embedded in the lives of his four grandchildren, Satyajit, Jyoti, Meera, and Anjali. He was a critical part of milestones throughout their lives, from birthdays to graduation ceremonies, and a wellspring of Indian culture for them. The grandchildren remember our father fondly for hours spent together playing Monopoly, his quick-witted Telegu idioms, and his penchant for McDonald’s Shamrock Shakes. He made the most of his sunset years, during which he went snorkeling in Hawaii, spent a summer solstice in Iceland, and explored Rome’s ancient architecture.
Most of all, our father will be remembered for living an honest and noble life. We will miss him, but we know that our father enters the next stage with the same fortitude and inner peace with which he lived his life.
A funeral service for Surendra will be held Wednesday, May 15, 2024 from 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM at Olinger Hampden Mortuary, 8600 E. Hampden Ave, Denver, CO 80231.
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