Dr. Bhanu P. Gandhi passed away on Thursday, December 31, 2020, at the age of 82 in Laguna Woods, California. She suffered a heart attack in her sleep and died shortly thereafter at Saddleback Memorial Hospital. In the last hour of her life, her son Sunil and daughter-in-law Abby held her hand, and her son Bharat was present by phone.

Bhanu was born to parents Nirmala and Amidas Vora on May 9, 1938, in Kolkata, India. She attended Gokhale Memorial Girls' School in Kolkata and later studied at Lady Brabourne College for her secondary education. In childhood she developed a passion for classical Indian dance and basketball. Bhanu then moved to Vadodara to attend Baroda Medical College and began practice as a pediatrician. In 1968, Bhanu married Dr. Pravinchandra Durlabhdas Gandhi in Mumbai. The newlyweds moved to Gottingen, West Germany, while Pravin completed his medical training in anesthesiology. While there, Bhanu gave birth to their first son, Bharat, a month after passing the United States Medical Licensing Examination. Shortly thereafter, medical fellowships took the couple to New York, where Bhanu completed a residency in psychiatry. In 1975, Bhanu gave birth to the couple's second son, Sunil, and became a board certified child psychiatrist at Queen's Children's Psychiatric Center where she served for 15 years. Over two decades, the family lived in Manhasset Hills and Old Brookville, New York, eventually settling in Weston, Massachusetts, where Bhanu worked at McLean Hospital and Cambridge Hospital while caring for Pravin who suffered from and ultimately succumbed to heart disease in 1994. Bhanu fully retired from active practice in 2014. She is remembered by many as an early female leader in her medical field and as a mother who devoted her life to helping her son Bharat navigate and overcome psychiatric illness. She is also remembered by many as the auntie who took in cousins, nieces and nephews, providing a warm and familiar place to land as they began their own lives and adventures in the United States.

In 2012, Bhanu and Bharat left New England to be closer to Sunil's growing family in southern California where Sunil is a professor of neurobiology and behavior at the University of California, Irvine. During her time as part of the Laguna Woods community, Bhanu grew closer to her daughter-in-law's parents, Betsy and Nelson Reyes, who also live in Laguna Woods. She participated extensively in the India Club, where she met many dear friends, and stayed active through numerous cultural community events. Bhanu enjoyed sharing stories of family life with her cousins Dinesh and Aruna Goradia of Fremont, California; Yogesh Goradia of New York, New York; Haresh and Deepika Goradia of Houston, Texas; niece Nupur Oza of Sunnyvale, California; niece Ami Goradia of Cardiff by the Sea, California; nephew Adi Goradia of Davis, California; and nephew Keyur Valia of Manalapan, New Jersey. In her last few years, elder care assistants Lorenzita Ramos, Maya Desai, Maria Theresa Bautista, Michelle Basco and others skillfully and lovingly helped Sunil care for Bhanu, becoming essential members of Bhanu's community as the family navigated the rapid progression of her dementia during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bhanu is survived by her son Bharat, her son Sunil, Sunil's wife Abby Reyes, her grandsons Kiran Reyes Gandhi (age 13) and Julian Reyes Gandhi (age 12). She is predeceased by her husband Pravin (d. 1994) and her siblings Parimal (d. circa 1965), Anu (d. 2013), Pramila (d. 2016) and Hemendra (d. 2020).
The family will hold a private, traditional Hindu funeral on Thursday, January 7, 2020, in Laguna Beach, California, through the Laguna Woods McCormick & Son Mortuary. At this time, no service is planned. Once conditions are more favorable, the family will host and honor community gatherings to celebrate Bhanu's life as well as bring Bhanu's ashes home to the Holy Ganga River in India. In the meantime, please honor Bhanu's memory and be in touch with the family by contributing a memory and condolences to the online memorial page that the family has established at:

https://memories.net/timeline/bhanu-gandhi-29130

In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation to PrathamUSA ( https://prathamusa.org) or Overseas Volunteers for a Better India (http://www.overseasvbi.org). Both organizations work to improve lives in India.