HAS A DEATH OCCURRED? WE ARE AVAILABLE 24/7 CALL Minneapolis (612) 200-2777 or duluth (218) 208-0377
HAS A DEATH OCCURRED? WE ARE AVAILABLE 24/7 CALL Minneapolis (612) 200-2777 or duluth (218) 208-0377









Obituary of Shyama Pati Sengupta
Shyama Pati Sengupta was born in Barasat, West Bengal, India on May 1st, 1933. He grew up in India, but he was a citizen of the world as he pursued his studies in places close to his heart from St. Anthony’s College in Shillong where he received his Bachelor of Science degree and Calcutta University where he studied Agricultural Sciences to Stillwater, Oklahoma where he arrived in 1962 to pursue Master’s and Doctorate (Ph.D.) degrees in plant breeding and genetics. He completed his graduate studies in 1968. He was a life-long learner but chose to have a late start after initially staying back to support his mother, Suhasini Sengupta, and family after the untimely death of his father, Abinash Chandra Sengupta, during the partition riots of colonial India. Once he started, though, he couldn’t be stopped. He had a love and enthusiasm of learning and adventure that would always shine and reflect onto others throughout his life.
Once in the United States he proved to be an instrument of cultural exchange. He was a Renaissance man! He could write and play music, he had a beautiful voice, and he could speak several languages including Bengali, Hindi, Sanskrit, German, Spanish, and English. He brought a harmonium instrument from India to play in the U.S. and when he would return to India periodically to see and care for his family, he would not only bring gifts along but also slides and ideas and experiences of his time in America.
After his graduation from Oklahoma State University with a doctorate degree, the job market for plant genetics was not developed as yet. He settled in North Hollywood, California where he managed a 7-11 convenience store at night and gave up the safer day shifts to his business partner who had a young family. He did get robbed on one occasion or two but fortunately made it through safely. A young police officer would often check in on him during his long night shifts while purchasing items from the store. He would later sadly learn the young officer had died in the line of duty. He had a dog he named “Lobo” translated from “wolf” in Spanish. This dog was his companion until one day a stranger unfortunately picked him up. He then wrote a song about Lobo that I sing to his grandchildren at bedtime named “Be Kind”.
He was married to Sabita Sengupta, and then had a son, Jay Deep Sengupta. He settled in Southeastern New Mexico (Hobbs) and West Texas (Seminole and Brownfield) where he would work as director of research for several seed companies and develop new varieties of cotton that were disease and weather-resistant. There was another dog, also named “Lobo” and ultimately also picked up by a stranger but probably a good thing as this dog was growing geometrically faster than Jay. There was a strong Bengali community in Lubbock, Texas with many friends who had also immigrated from India in the fields of medicine, engineering, and science. Shyama had a spiritual side and would often do readings at religious ceremonies, or puja events, from the Hindu religious text, the Bhagavad Gita.
Shyama helped Sabita pursue her career in medicine, first working at a government family practice clinic in Loving, New Mexico and then establishing her own clinic in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Shyama would also work during the week in West Texas where “cotton was king’”
and he would return to be with his family in Carlsbad every weekend, a three-hour drive each way. After a roll-over motor vehicle accident in which his Toyota pick-up truck likely saved his life, he would make plans to stay in Carlsbad and manage the family practice clinic referred to locally by name as Dr. Sen’s Office. One could add business manager and medical administrator to Shyama’s diverse career skillset.
It took a while for Shyama and Sabita to decide to become American citizens; parts of them never left India and longed for their homeland. Jay was in the 6th grade, and they came to realize it would be hard for him to move to India at that point. It was ultimately a decision and sacrifice they made for their son’s future.
Shyama and Jay and that aforementioned Indian community helped care for Sabita as she battled pancreatic cancer from 2002 to 2004. In that time Jay graduated from medical school. Shyama briefly worked again in seed development, this time peanuts, in Brownfield, Texas. Soon he would stay together and support Jay as he continued on his medical training with residency and fellowship from 2004 to 2012 in St. Louis and Cleveland and become a cardiac electrophysiologist. Jay was married to Ria Bardhan in 2008, and together the family would move to Minneapolis in 2012.
In Minneapolis, Shyama continued his adventures, and he loved spending time at the Lake of the Isles and feeding the ducks. He joined the First Unitarian Society and would participate in the choir and Winter Solstice events. He was a people person, making friends everywhere he would go. When he would travel, he would often look-up the white pages of the city he was visiting and cold-call any “Sengupta” who was listed to see what and how they were doing and how he could help. He also helped many family members and friends pursue their education in India and America, and as a result he has touched countless lives in indelible ways.
Alzheimer’s dementia impacted that outgoing personality over the last few years. Every now and then, however, there would be that classic sparkle in the eye and the sound of the Shyama Pati Sengupta we all knew and loved. He was the best Dad, proud of his son and devoted to his family both in America and in India. He would embarrass his son with compliments in public and in private and never missed a moment to share his pride for his son and daughter-in-law. He was able to meet his grandson, Vir, in 2022 and his grand-daughter, Avika, in 2024. He had tremendous will-power and bravery through all of life’s trials and tribulations and this kept him going through the pandemic and while fighting dementia.
In memory care, he would often dress up and pack his bags to travel to India where his heart had always remained. He made his last trip there in 2017 and enjoyed many-a-song with his loving and extended family. He was a celebrity wherever he went. I do feel he sacrificed much to come to America and raise me here, but he shared so much more with the people he came across over the years. Ultimately the entire world became part of his travels and his home, from Barasat to Edina. Over the last several days he mentioned to the
Brookdale staff, “Where’s Jay, I want to go home.” In the end he smiled at me as he said my name before leaving for eternal peace and enlightenment within minutes of my arrival. It seemed he was waiting for me. May his soul reach the highest echelons of existence and be at peace. He was a wonderful human being, and we miss him dearly.



Copyright © 2024 | Terms of use & privacy policy