Obituary of Achyut B. Deshpande Phd.

Achyut B. Deshpande, PhD

1932-2020

Dr. Achyut B. Deshpande, 87, of South Orange, NJ passed away on Friday, April 10, 2020 at Columbus Hospital.  Known as “Baba” to friends and family, he was a devoted and beloved husband, father, and grandfather.  Achyut was born in the village of Tathwade, India to Bhalchandra and Kamal Deshpande. 

Raised in Pune, India, Achyut attended Fergusson College and Pune University where he received his Bachelors (Honors), Masters (First-class) and Ph.D in Chemistry.  While working in the National Chemical Laboratories as a polymer chemist, Achyut received a post-doctoral fellowship through the Colombo Plan to Tokyo Kogyo Daigaku for two years.  In Tokyo, Achyut met his beloved wife Kiwa and married her in Pune, India in 1968. 

In 1973, Achyut and Kiwa immigrated with their children to the USA, residing in East Orange, NJ. Achyut initially worked as a research fellow with Dr. Herman Mark at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and later worked for Gaylord Research Institute in Newark, NJ.  After moving to South Orange, Achyut became the Research Chemist at Synfax and later Specialty Toner where he retired in 2002.  After retirement, Achyut became a grandfather to seven beautiful and loving grandchildren.  He also became a poet of haiku and in 2018 won a Bronze award for his Japanese haiku. 

Achyut was a Dreamer - he came to the United States with a dream to become a Nobel Laureate. He always told his children that low ambition was a crime.  He has always encouraged everyone to dream big, study, and work hard to achieve those dreams.  In his personal example, he set high standards in terms of achievement, integrity and principles.  Achyut was also a Fighter…he especially demonstrated his fighting spirit in the last months of his life at Saint Barnabas where he recovered miraculously from cardiac arrest. Achyut’s strong spirit has inspired the deep admiration, respect and love of his family and friends across the globe.

Achyut is survived by Kiwa, his wife of 51 years, three children and their spouses – Bhalendu and Deanna Deshpande of West Hartford, CT, Komal and Gary Dietz of Seven Fields, PA, and Chitra Deshpande and Timothy Janz of Rome, Italy as well as 7 grandchildren – Maya, Mira, Ria, Bhajan, Mahadev, Jai and Sonya.

A memorial service to celebrate his life will be held at a later date.