Vasantha Raja

Vasantha Raja (nee Subramaniam) passed away peacefully at home on February 14, 2026. Born in Palani, India, she was the third child in a large, tight-knit family of four brothers and four sisters. Affectionately referred to as “Kunju” (meaning “little darling”) by her family, her siblings remember her intelligence, humor, friendliness, and sense of style and grace. Raised on the beautiful island of Sri Lanka, Vasantha worked for the accounting department at the Indian High Commission Office in Colombo from 1953-1961 to help support her family. Always quietly challenging convention, she encouraged the local girls to start playing badminton and always read the politics and humor section of the newspaper—so she could be well-versed in the events of the day. At the age of twenty-six, she met her husband Raja through a local matchmaker. The two were married just a week later. The couple immigrated to West Lafayette, Indiana in the early 1960s, where Raja pursued his PhD in Physics. Vasantha enjoyed working in the Purdue aerospace engineering library and gave birth to their first daughter Meera in 1965. The family developed a tight-knit network of friends, and Vasantha quickly became known for her humor and gracious hospitality. With the encouragement of Vasantha’s brother, the late Balasubramaniam (Ulhas), they made the Chicago suburbs their permanent home in 1972, where they welcomed their second daughter, Sheela. Vasantha and Raja were pioneers in the South Indian Tamil community of Chicagoland, helping found many important cultural organizations that still exist today. An avid lover of South Indian classical dance and music, Vasantha served on the board of Natya Dance Theater and was actively involved in the Chicago Thyagaraja Uthsavam, where she was respected for her warmth and enthusiasm. Vasantha poured all her love and energy into her daughters, raising them to be independent, educated women, telling them they should never give up on themselves. When she was blessed with her granddaughters Jaya and Leila, she had no greater joy than celebrating their graduations from college and high school, respectively. She lived simply but was generous to a fault—always contributing to veterans and children’s charities, or a local family in need. She was a wonderful conversationalist, fueled by her keen knowledge of current events and her avid love of reading. She had an associate’s degree in library science and was also a certified tax preparer. Her ability to plan, organize, and connect with others made her the heart and soul of the Raja family. She possessed an incredible blend of warmth, humor, open-mindedness, independence, and an uncanny ability to understand and accept people for exactly who they were. Once she met you, she was rooting for you. She will be forever missed by everyone who was blessed to know her. She is survived by her daughters Meera (Edgar) and Sheela (Nur), her granddaughters Jaya and Leila, and her siblings Krishnamurthy (Banu) and Lakshmi. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to one of Vasantha’s many favorite charities, including St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Please use the following if wanting to make an honorary donation in Vasantha's memory to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital: https://www.stjude.org/donate/ Vasantha's visitation will take place on Saturday, February 21, 2026, from 10:00 until 11:00 a.m., located at McCauley-Sullivan Funeral Home & Crematorium, 530 West Boughton Road, Bolingbrook, Illinois 60440. Chapel service to proceed after the visitation, beginning at 11:00 a.m. Final pass by at 12:00 p.m. noon. Cremation ceremony to conclude her funeral services. Funeral arrangements entrusted to McCauley-Sullivan Funeral Home & Crematorium.

Vasantha Raja

June 20, 1935 - February 14, 2026