Archana P. Kulkarni

Archana P. Kulkarni, 70, of Santa Monica, passed away on February 10, 2013, at the UCLA Medical Center with her family by her side. She was born Sunanda Digambar Hatvalne on May 6, 1942 in Pune, Maharashtra, India to Digambar and Kamal Hatvalne. She lived in Kansas City, MO, Montgomery, AL, and Warren, OH, before moving to Santa Monica, CA in 2000 to be closer to her children. Archana had a rich and fulfilling life, beginning with a happy childhood in Pune with her parents, and three sisters Suhasini, Shashikala and Surekha and brother Anil. She graduated in 1966 from B.J. Medical School in Pune and immigrated to the United States in 1971 with her husband Prakash and daughter Manjusha. Her daughters Preeti and Sonali were born four years and seven years later respectively. After the early death of her husband, Archana found the strength to provide for and raise her children, eventually starting a new life when she remarried Baseti Shridhar in 1993. A doting wife, mother, and grandmother, Archana was always surrounded by family, particularly her daughters and grandchildren, who lived nearby and were extremely close to her. She was the rock of her extended family as well, providing tireless care and serving as an incredible source of strength to all. An intellectually curious person, Archana enjoyed traveling around the world, discussing current affairs, reading, watching Marathi plays, and taking daily walks with her husband and daughters. Archana practiced as a family physician for more than 40 years. Throughout her career, she was a true trailblazer, joining the United States Air Force in 1977 and opening her own medical practice in Montgomery, AL in 1984. For the past ten years, Archana served as the Medical Director of the Westside Family Health Center in Santa Monica. Affectionately called "Dr. K" by her fellow Westside clinic staff and patients, Archana provided excellent and compassionate medical care to uninsured and low-income persons in Southern California. She found so much meaning and fulfillment in doctoring and her workplace relationships that she was reluctant to retire and was still practicing three days a week. Archana is preceded in death by her first husband Prakash B. Kulkarni and her parents. She is survived by her husband Baseti Shridhar, her three daughters Manjusha, Preeti and Sonali Kulkarni, her three sons-in-law Shailendra N. Halbe, Rakesh Mathur, and Kapil S. Kulkarni, all of Los Angeles, and her stepson Jayant Krishna and daughter-in-law Sushma Krishna of Palo Alto, CA, and stepdaughter Nandini Shridhar, of Menlo Park, CA. She is also survived by her five grandchildren, Vaishali, Meghana, Akash, Chirag and Tanay. Funeral services will be held at the Green Hills Mortuary and Memorial Chapel at 11 a.m., Saturday, February 16. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Archana can be made to the Westside Family Health Center, "Dr. K Memorial Fund," 1711 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405 via check or online at http://www.wfhcenter.org/index.php/donate. To leave a special message for the family, please visit www.greenhillsmortuary.com/obituary.