Obituary: Rama Karamcheti (1948-2013), Librarian


By Rama Kalipatnapu Rao      e-mail: ramakrao65@gmail.com

Rama Karamcheti, 65, a resident of Washington, PA passed away on October 2, 2013 in her home after battling multiple myeloma for seven years.  She was born on February 22, 1948 in Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India.  Her father was a WW II veteran as a physician. In 1969 she married in India Anand Karamcheti, a physician. She came to the US in 1972 with her husband and had two sons Aditya and Deepak. They lived in Morristown, NJ, New York City, and Pittsburgh, before settling down in 1977 in Washington, PA where Anand set up his urology practice.

In 1982 Rama earned her Master’s degree in Library Science from the University of Pittsburgh, attending classes by commuting from Washington, PA to Oakland.  For ten years, she was the head of the reference department at Ohio County Public Library in Wheeling, WV. Later, she was a reference librarian at Citizen’s Library in Washington, PA. As a librarian, she provided remarkable service to the community.

She battled multiple myeloma, which was diagnosed in 2006.  Rama’s simplicity, courage and incredible endurance, serene demeanor, hard work, elegance, friendly nature, and positive outlook are well known to her friends. She never complained of fatigue or other signs of poor health, and kept herself busy with light household activities, grandchildren and friends. She found joy in taking her grandchildren to swimming pools, parks and reading stories from scriptures. She enjoyed helping an ailing friend in need, or having an informal soup party with friends at her home or going out with friends. She never worried about how she was going to be the next day and found joy in spending time with family and friends.

Rama’s parents, Venkata Ramaniah and Suryakantham Praturi, died a few years ago in India. Rama is survived by her husband Anand; elder son Aditya and his wife Erenia; younger son Deepak and his wife Manjula; grandchildren Ram, Anand Jr, Jaya and Kush; and her sisters Shanta in India, Aruna in Boston and brother Srinivas in India.

After a brief private funeral service, Rama was cremated at the Washington Cemetery in Pennsylvania.  Rama’s demise is a great loss to her family and her many friends. ♦

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