Shankar Deshmukh

Shankar S. Deshmukh, 84, passed away peacefully on Monday, March 9, 2026, outside of Charleston, South Carolina.

Shank was born in 1941 to Shripatrao and Durgabai Deshmukh in the small village of Marhal in the Nashik district of Maharashtra, India.

He loved learning and was a naturally gifted student with a knack for engineering and technology. His academic acumen took him to the College of Engineering Pune, one of India's oldest engineering institutions, and he graduated as a gold medalist.

Shank then headed to California in 1965, and later liked recalling that he arrived with only a small suitcase, a suit, and $500. He earned a Master of Science in Engineering from Stanford University in 1966. He received a Master of Business Administration from Santa Clara University in 1971.

Shank later became a U.S. citizen. He eventually settled down in Glenview, outside of Chicago, Illinois, where he and his former wife, Dr. Anita-Patil Deshmukh, raised two sons, Adeetya and Varoon. Shank loved his role as a parent and enjoyed coaching Varoon's baseball team and taking Adeet and Varoon on frequent visits to the Museum of Science and Industry and to the Chicago Auto Show. Shank had a long and successful career in engineering and information technology, and was particularly proud of his time as a director at Cap Gemini.

Shank adored being "Ajoba" to his granddaughter, Zoe, and loved attending her ballet recitals and birthday parties in New York City.

His favorite pastimes included traveling the country with friends and family, hosting barbecues, watching the Chicago Bears, and celebrating the holidays. He especially liked cooking Thanksgiving dinner and seeing his children and granddaughter open their Christmas gifts.

Shank remained close to his extended family in Nashik, Pune, and Mumbai, India. In 2006, Shank took Adeet and daughter-in-law Kate on a special trip after their wedding to meet relatives and visit religious sites in and around his ancestral home in India.

Varoon and Erin cherished having Shank close to them in the Carolinas after he moved there in early 2025.

Shank is survived by his former wife, Dr. Anita Patil-Deshmukh of Mumbai, India, his sons Adeet (Kate) Deshmukh of New York City, and Varoon (Erin Morrison) Deshmukh of the Carolinas, his granddaughter, Zoe Deshmukh of New York City, and nieces and nephews in India.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his four older brothers, Narayanrao, Vinayakrao, Laxmanrao, and Popatrao.

We will miss him every day but know that he is at peace.

"The soul is without birth, eternal, immortal, and ageless. It is not destroyed when the body is destroyed."
—The Bhagavad Gita