Rajesh Kumar Shah was born on August 15, 1941, in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India — the same day India declared its independence — a coincidence his family always considered auspicious. He was the second of four children born to Kishanlal and Kamla Shah, a family of merchants who valued education as the surest path to a dignified life. Rajesh took that path seriously. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rajasthan in 1963 and a Master's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, in 1966. He immigrated to the United States in 1969 on an H-1B visa, joining an engineering firm in the San Francisco Bay Area that would eventually become part of his professional identity for over three decades. He rose to the position of Principal Engineer and held four patents in fluid dynamics systems. Rajesh married Sunita Agarwal in 1968 in a traditional Rajasthani ceremony, and together they raised three children in Fremont, California. He was a man of structure and warmth in equal measure — the father who insisted on Sunday family dinners, who drove his children to every extracurricular activity without complaint, and who could explain any engineering concept using only a napkin and a pen. His children describe a man who was demanding because he believed in them, and tender because he loved them completely. He was a longtime member of the Hindu Community and Cultural Center in Milpitas, where he served on the facilities committee and helped coordinate the annual Navratri celebration. In retirement, he took up classical tabla drumming, traveled extensively through India with Sunita, and spent his mornings doing yoga and his evenings reading history. Rajesh Kumar Shah passed peacefully on July 30, 2026, at the age of 84. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.

Hobbies & interests

Playing classical tabla drumming; practicing yoga each morning; traveling through India with Sunita; reading Indian history and engineering journals; attending Navratri celebrations at the Hindu Community and Cultural Center; solving complex engineering problems for fun in retirement

Survived by

His wife of 58 years, Sunita Shah (née Agarwal); three children: Amit Shah (Pooja) of Fremont, CA, Deepa Shah-Gupta (Rohit) of San Jose, CA, and Vikram Shah (Leena) of Seattle, WA; seven grandchildren; his brother, Suresh Shah of Jaipur, India; and his sister, Usha Shah-Joshi of London, UK.

Preceded in death by

His parents, Kishanlal and Kamla Shah; his brother, Ramesh Shah; and his dear friend and colleague, Dr. Arun Mehta.