Shekhar Govind
Shekhar Govind On January 13, 2009, Shekhar Govind unexpectedly passed away, cutting short what had already been an extraordinary life which touched many. Shekhar was preceded in death by his father and his mother, Shri Kant and Yashodhara Govind. Those closest to Shekhar, his sister, Rashmi Govind and her husband Pankaj Kumar, and the love of his life for 24 years, Diane Christopherson, will feel his loss most deeply. Shekhar was born June 19, 1957, in Dhanbad, Bihar, India, and came to the USA after graduating from IIT Delhi. He returned to India often to visit family friends, and the country he loved. Together with his family he established a charitable trust in India focused on providing quality treatment and care for eye and vision related diseases. Shekhar earned a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. During his career, he taught at both Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, and the University of Texas at Arlington and acted as a consultant in transportation engineering to a number of entities. Though he described himself as a "systems analyst", Shekhar was the ultimate Renaissance man whose passions ran from Aristotle to Zen, and included plenty of analytical and creative thinking in between. In recent years he pursued his passion for theater, working tirelessly with his friends and colleagues at the Vortex Repertory Company. Shekhar loved learning every aspect of the stage from set construction to acting, and was proud of his recent performances at the Vortex. In collaboration with his sister, he had recently completed writing an adaptation of Chaucer's "Wife of Bath" which he hoped to produce. Shekhar was comfortable in the company of young and old, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, and all were welcome at his dinner table. He was an excellent cook and introduced all of us to the wonderful world of Indian cuisine. Those who knew him will always cherish Shekhar's wisdom, kindness, clever wit, and untiring zest for life. A viewing will be Monday, January 19, 2009, between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at Austin-Peel and Son Funeral Home, 607 E. Anderson Lane, Austin, Texas 78752. A private family service will be held on Tuesday. A celebration of life service will be held at a later date. Those wishing to show support for Shekhar's love of the theater and connect with his soul may send a donation to the Vortex Repertory Company, 2307 Manor Rd., Austin TX 78722 in lieu of flowers.
