Obituary for Ram P. Gupta
Ram P. Gupta was born in 1943 in Ishwarapuram, a farming village in rural India. Growing up, Ram’s village lacked basic necessities like electricity and running water, and the nearest school was five miles away. The difficulties of Ram’s youth were formative, and instilled a lifelong drive to succeed
professionally. In 1965, Ram graduated with distinction from Osmania University in Hyderbad, India with a degree in accounting, becoming one of the first members of his village to obtain a college degree.
In 1970, Ram immigrated to the United States and moved to New York City to further his career. He returned to India briefly in 1972 to whisk Aruna off her feet and marry her. Ram and Aruna returned to the U.S. later that year, settling back in New York City, where Ram resumed his accounting career, and Aruna began pursuing her residency in pediatrics.
1976 brought big changes to Ram’s life. Ram and Aruna welcomed their first child, Chetana. That same year, Ram found his true calling when he left accounting, and started a real estate business. Ram moved to the United States because it rewarded entrepreneurship and hard work, and found the New York real estate market was a natural match for his energy, optimism, and passion for business. Ram started his business in the Bronx, where he and Aruna lived, where Aruna was pursuing her residency in pediatrics, and where Chetana was born. In the years that followed, Ram would always tell business partners, friends, and family that the “Bronx had been good to [him].” In 1979, Ram and Aruna moved to New Jersey, and a few years later, their second daughter, Anita, was born. Today, Anita is at the helm of Ram’s business, which manages real estate across multiple states, but still proudly calls the Bronx its home. Over the years, Ram was heavily engaged in the Bronx business community, serving as the President of the Rotary Club of The Bronx, on the board of the Bronx Chapter of the American Red Cross, and numerous other organizations.
Ram recognized how lucky he had been to overcome the difficulties of his childhood, and spent his time and energy giving back for the benefit of future generations. In 1999, as the president of the Bronx Rotary Club, Ram raised funds to build a water treatment plant to deliver clean drinking water to the residents of his hometown in rural India. In the early 2000’s, Ram helped establish an eye clinic in his wife’s hometown of Visakhapatnam, India. In 2021, Ram established The Gupta Family Endowed Prize for Innovation in ALS Care at Massachusetts General Hospital, to spur innovation through an annual prize to the most promising new approaches for the care of ALS patients. And in 2022, in an ode to the fundamental role education played in his success, Ram created the Gupta Education Endowment, which is dedicated to providing financial support for underprivileged students.
Those who knew Ram best would define him not by professional accomplishments or his contributions to society, but instead, by his zest for life. Ram could never resist a dance floor, and happy hour was always his happiest hour (and could come at any hour)! If you expressed even the faintest interest in scuba diving or skiing, he was bound to talk your ear off about the trips he had taken, and the trips you should take! Even the onset of ALS could not keep him off the slopes. In 2016, after ALS stripped Ram of the use of his arms, he skied in Utah surrounded by his entire family, including his four grandchildren, with the help of the National Ability Center.
Ram is survived by Aruna, his loving wife of over fifty years, his daughters Chetana (Harsha) and Anita (Krishnan), and grandchildren Rohan (17), Kailash (14), Shiv (9), and Meera (7).
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Ram's memory to the Healey Center for ALS:
Click here to make a donation
professionally. In 1965, Ram graduated with distinction from Osmania University in Hyderbad, India with a degree in accounting, becoming one of the first members of his village to obtain a college degree.
In 1970, Ram immigrated to the United States and moved to New York City to further his career. He returned to India briefly in 1972 to whisk Aruna off her feet and marry her. Ram and Aruna returned to the U.S. later that year, settling back in New York City, where Ram resumed his accounting career, and Aruna began pursuing her residency in pediatrics.
1976 brought big changes to Ram’s life. Ram and Aruna welcomed their first child, Chetana. That same year, Ram found his true calling when he left accounting, and started a real estate business. Ram moved to the United States because it rewarded entrepreneurship and hard work, and found the New York real estate market was a natural match for his energy, optimism, and passion for business. Ram started his business in the Bronx, where he and Aruna lived, where Aruna was pursuing her residency in pediatrics, and where Chetana was born. In the years that followed, Ram would always tell business partners, friends, and family that the “Bronx had been good to [him].” In 1979, Ram and Aruna moved to New Jersey, and a few years later, their second daughter, Anita, was born. Today, Anita is at the helm of Ram’s business, which manages real estate across multiple states, but still proudly calls the Bronx its home. Over the years, Ram was heavily engaged in the Bronx business community, serving as the President of the Rotary Club of The Bronx, on the board of the Bronx Chapter of the American Red Cross, and numerous other organizations.
Ram recognized how lucky he had been to overcome the difficulties of his childhood, and spent his time and energy giving back for the benefit of future generations. In 1999, as the president of the Bronx Rotary Club, Ram raised funds to build a water treatment plant to deliver clean drinking water to the residents of his hometown in rural India. In the early 2000’s, Ram helped establish an eye clinic in his wife’s hometown of Visakhapatnam, India. In 2021, Ram established The Gupta Family Endowed Prize for Innovation in ALS Care at Massachusetts General Hospital, to spur innovation through an annual prize to the most promising new approaches for the care of ALS patients. And in 2022, in an ode to the fundamental role education played in his success, Ram created the Gupta Education Endowment, which is dedicated to providing financial support for underprivileged students.
Those who knew Ram best would define him not by professional accomplishments or his contributions to society, but instead, by his zest for life. Ram could never resist a dance floor, and happy hour was always his happiest hour (and could come at any hour)! If you expressed even the faintest interest in scuba diving or skiing, he was bound to talk your ear off about the trips he had taken, and the trips you should take! Even the onset of ALS could not keep him off the slopes. In 2016, after ALS stripped Ram of the use of his arms, he skied in Utah surrounded by his entire family, including his four grandchildren, with the help of the National Ability Center.
Ram is survived by Aruna, his loving wife of over fifty years, his daughters Chetana (Harsha) and Anita (Krishnan), and grandchildren Rohan (17), Kailash (14), Shiv (9), and Meera (7).
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Ram's memory to the Healey Center for ALS:
Click here to make a donation