Sushila D. Patel

Sushilaben Patel, age 74, of Voorhees, NJ passed away on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. She is survived by her husband; Dahyabhai; daughters, Rachana, Neelam, and Nisha; grandchildren, Vaishali, Riya, Nitya, Jiva, and Om; sons-in-law: Vipul and Mitul.

Sushilaben was born in Mumbai, India and having lost her parents as a young girl, she was raised by her grandfather. She spent most of her life in our ancestral rural farming village, milking the buffalos, fetching water from the well and cooking on indoor wood-fire stoves while also working as a schoolteacher. In the 1970s, she boarded her first ever flight alone and with no English proficiency. With her toddler and infant daughter in tow, she flew across the world to join her husband in cold, windy Chicago, far from any place she had known before. She thrived and found her way while navigating this new world with a foreign language. The Patel family of four moved from Chicago to cities in Michigan and then finally landed in New Jersey where they became a complete family of five. She spent most of her working years in the pharmaceutical quality assurance industry.

Outside of work and home, she was a dedicated member of the South Jersey Indian community, including serving as a leader for the younger generations in the Hindu Balvihar, youth and camp programs. She held executive board roles and was quick to volunteer her time and energy to uplift our community. Her passion for cooking and feeding others was her way of connecting with people.

She spent her retirement volunteering in the community, spending time with her husband, friends and family, cooking and feeding others with all her heart, traveling around the world, power walking with the neighborhood aunties, socializing as much as she could, spending winters in our rural Indian village, and helping take care of (and spoil) her grandchildren.

We will keep her memory alive and find comfort in the strength she left within all of us.

Family and friends are invited to attend her viewing and puja on Saturday, June 22, 2024, at 2:30 PM, at LeRoy P. Wooster Funeral Home & Crematory, located at 441 White Horse Pike, Atco, NJ 08004. A livestream of the services will be available by clicking this link .