Obituary for Madhava Rao
October 18, 1937 - August 3, 2023

Madhava Rao, 85, passed away peacefully on the morning of August 3, 2023 in Naperville, Illinois. He was born in Udyavara, Karnataka, India on October 18, 1937, the second child of Sanjeeva and Kalyani Rao. After completing his studies in Mangalore, he worked in both Southern and Western India. In March of 1967, he married Vijayalaxmi in Udupi, and their first child, Rekha, was born in Mumbai two years later..

With the help of his brother-in-law, Balakrishna Rao, he answered an ad for a company in Pennsylvania and moved to the United States January 4, 1970. This decision would not only change the life of his immediate family but the lives of the many family members who would come to join the Rao family in the United States over the next two decades.

In subsequent years, Madhava, Vijaya and Rekha moved to Maryland, where son Harish was born in 1974, and then Illinois less than a year later. Eventually, the family bought a home in Wheaton, where Madhava and Vijaya entertained their many friends and family members, hosted Indian community events and worked hard to build a comfortable, wonderful life for their children.

For nearly 30 years, he worked for the same company in downtown Chicago, Roberts & Schaefer, until his retirement in 2002. Madhava was an active member, board member, and past president of Vidyaranya Kannada Kuta of Illinois, for which he is remembered with great respect.

He and Vijaya moved to Florida in 2004, where Madhava embraced the warm weather, braced for the occasional hurricane, played pickleball, set out on long bike rides, made new friends and generally enjoyed retired life.

Madhava will be remembered for his calm manner, his kind smile, his work ethic, his love of Indian and American history, and his enthusiasm for world travel.

Madhava is survived by his wife, Vijaya; his daughter, Rekha (Kenneth), and his son, Harish; his beloved brothers, Dayananda (Padmini) and Murali (Surekha); and beloved sisters Shreelatha (Chandrashekhar), Madhavi (Balakrishna) and Shantha (Satyananda). He was the dear, smiling Chikkappa, Thoddappa, Mama to many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand nephews, as well as Ajja to Madeline and Jacob Helin.

The visitation will take place on Sunday, August 6, 2023 from 10:30 until 11:45 a.m. at McCauley-Sullivan Funeral Home & Crematorium, 530 West Boughton Road, Bolingbrook, Illinois 60440. Eulogies will begin at 11:30 a.m. until the time of the Puja at 12:00 p.m. Private cremation to conclude the services for Mr. Rao.

For more information, please contact Rekha at (773) 259-5746 or call the funeral home at (630) 759-1212.

Funeral arrangements entrusted to McCauley-Sullivan Funeral Home & Crematorium.