Satnam Singh Narula

Sardar Satnam Singh Narula (Darji: paternal grandfather) was born on November 5th, 1935 in Homalin, Burma (present day Myanmar). After WWII, during the Japanese invasion, the Narula family fled back to India. They settled in Imphal, Manipur, where his father and mother, Iqbal Singh and Kartar Kaur, started the family business. Darji and his brother Kulbir Singh took over the operations. In 1955, Satnam and Maninder Narula were married and subsequently had three boys: Amrit Pal (Paul), Jatinder Pal (Billu), and Mohan Pal (Mohni). The Narula family moved to Chandigarh in 1964. Darji was the first college graduate in his community. He earned a BA in English. Over the course of his young adult life, he learned five languages including: Punjabi, Hindi, English, Manipuri, and Bengali. 

The Narula family immigrated to the US in 1991. Upon settling in Long Island, NY, Darji helped his son Billu set up the family business in Queens, NY. He became a prominent figure in the Long Island Sikh community, eventually becoming President of the Glen Cove Gurdwara for four years. Most mornings, he dropped off his two granddaughters, Jaspreet and Jasleen, to school. He was a true bibliophile, frequently found reading four to five books simultaneously followed by in depth and intellectual discussions with his dear Rosy during his fried egg and toast breakfast, eaten with a fork and knife and yellow napkin tucked into his dress shirt. At six feet tall, always with a matching tie and turban, our gentle giant carried himself with grace, dignity, poise, intellect, elegance, and a calm demeanor. While on his post-meal walks, he would often be seen listening to his walkman in the 1990’s, and later in life strolling the backyard in Glen Cove or the driveway and basement in Orwigsburg, with his hands clasped behind his back. Darji led our family by example, never lecturing us, and taught us a cardinal rule: listen more and talk less. 

Satnam is survived by his wife, Maninder Narula; two sons and daughters-in-law, Dr. Amrit Pal and Rosy Narula and Sardar Jatinder Pal and Pawanjit Narula; grandson, Dr. Arvin Narula; three granddaughters and their husbands, Jaspreet and Raja Chawla, Shana and Dr. Gurneet Bedi, Jasleen Narula and Simran Pal Singh; and five great granddaughters, Saachi, Savina, Inayat, Zareen, and Mahi.