Sheela Balsawer

It is with great sadness that we share that our beloved Sheela Nadkarni Balsawer passed away at the age of 82 on April 15, 2023 after complications of pneumonia and septic shock. She was peaceful, comfortable, and surrounded by her partner Vijay, her daughter Peggy, and her younger sister Mangal, along with Mangal’s husband and children. In her final moments, she enjoyed a taste of dahi (yogurt, from a dish of Mangal’s which she loved), some ghee (clarified butter, a favorite of hers since childhood), and single malt scotch. Sheela Nadkarni Balsawer was born on February 12, 1941, to Bhaskar and Malathi Nadkarni in Mumbai, India, the second of four children. She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband Krishnanand (“Krish”), and her younger brother Sudhir. She is survived by her partner Vijay, her daughter Peggy, and her sisters Mangal and Hema and their families. Sheela is probably best described as a renaissance woman. She was a beautiful, elegant, and strong young lady who broke the glass ceiling in more ways than one. She was the captain of one of the first women’s teams to participate in the Indian National Basketball Championships in the late 1950s/early 1960s, representing the state of Maharashtra. She had the great honor of leading a squad of select cadets from all over India on behalf of the National Cadet Corps at India’s annual Republic Day Parade in the early 1960s. Sheela also represented Maharashtra’s national volleyball team for over six years, including as its captain. She also broke barriers in her academic career, graduating from Ruparel College with a B.A. and then becoming one of the first women to pursue an MBA for working executives at Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies. In her early part of her career, she was mentored as a pharmaceutical marketing executive at Chemopharma Laboratories under the tutelage of her uncle, S.M. Nadkarni. After the death of her father, when she was only 26, she took on many responsibilities for the Nadkarni family, including resettling the family into a new home, which allowed for her younger brother Sudhir to pursue his Air Force career in India. After her marriage, she followed her husband to the United States to build a life with their only child, Peggy. Both Sheela and her late husband Krish made sacrifices to bring Sheela’s sisters, Hema (and her family) and Mangal, to the U.S. thus ensuring that Peggy would always be close to her extended family. To this day, Peggy views her cousins as siblings and her aunts and uncles as surrogate parents, and also remains close with extended family in India. Upon arriving in Pittsburgh, PA in the early 1970s, Sheela began her work in the business world by joining a relatively new pharmaceuticals company called Mylan. She was the marketing executive responsible for launching Mylan’s International Division and spent years traveling the world on business. The company, now called Viatris, has for years been one of the largest generic and specialty pharmaceuticals companies in the world in terms of revenue and recognized as an industry leader globally. None of that would have been possible without the company’s first international sales, which Sheela made happen. After several years in the industry, including as a consultant, Sheela retired so that she could enjoy more of the things she loved - traveling the world (for fun), spending time with family, and tasting all the wine and single malt Scotch offerings that she could. But what brought her the most joy was spending time with the children in the extended family, including her partner’s grandchildren, and she considered all of them as her own. She is also remembered for having begun a tradition, since carried on by others, of hosting a family reunion over a classic Thanksgiving feast, which she was taught to prepare by some of her oldest American friends. Sheela is best described as a smart, witty, and sophisticated lady who remained down to earth, and she was a role model, in both work and athletics, to her younger friends and relatives. Her charm, charisma, and infectious smile attracted people wherever she went, earning her friends all over the world. She was focused on doing good in the world and bringing joy to others. No written dedication can truly do justice to the amazing person that Sheela was. While her passing leaves an unfillable gap for her family and friends, generations of Nadkarni and Balsawer relatives will have her to remember and thank for their opportunities, blessings, and fortunes. May her soul rest in peace with God. Memorial services will be held for the public on Saturday April 22, 2023. Visitation and viewing of open casket beginning at 4:00 pm CT. A brief eulogy and the Hindu puja will follow, beginning promptly at 4:45 PM CT at McCauley-Sullivan Funeral Home and Crematorium 530 W. Boughton Rd. Bolingbrook, IL. Services will also be live-streamed with a recording link available thereafter for those unable to attend. Links will be available on the funeral home’s website. For those traveling in for services, Midway Airport is slightly closer to the funeral home than O’Hare Airport, and there are multiple hotels, airbnbs, and VRBO options in the area. We have also coordinated a special rate of $119/night at the Aloft hotel, a Marriott property. Use this link to receive the discount: https://www.marriott.com/events/start.mi?id=1682010312219&key=GRP Please contact the hotel directly if any issues. We are anticipating hosting a small gathering at the Aloft following the service for those in attendance. We are anticipating hosting a small gathering following the service for those in attendance. ****Etiquette for Hindu funerals asks for mourners to wear white. HONOR SHEELA's MEMORY (NO SYMPATHY GIFTS OR FLOWERS PLEASE) Sheela would want you to attend without any token (unless you would be sharing your martini, scotch, or baklava). Instead, please consider donating in her honor or memory to the MDS Foundation at http://www.mds-foundation.org/ or to the North Shore Animal League at http://www.animalleague.org/. Please take a moment to sign the on-line guestbook to share your condolences, what Sheela meant to you, or to share a memory. https://www.sullivanfunerals.com/obituaries/Sheela-Balsawer/#!/TributeWall Entries will be compiled and shared with Peggy as a keepsake.

Sheela Balsawer

February 12, 1941 - April 15, 2023