Akshya "Shay" Singh

Akshya "Shay" Kumar Singh, of Naperville, IL passed away at home unexpectedly on December 20, 2022 at the age of 53. Shay was preceded in death by his mother, Prem Lata and both sets of grandparents. Shay is survived by his father, Virendra Singh, his sister Abhilasha ''Abby" Singh Jones of Naperville, IL (son Nathan Kumar Jones), Brother Sandesh "Sandy" Kumar Singh of Las Vegas, NV, and many beloved Uncles, Aunts, cousins, and good friends.
Akshya was born on March 16, 1969 to Prem Lata and Virendra Singh in Meerut, UP, India. He made the journey to America with Prem at age 1, to rejoin Virendra in starting their new life as Americans. They settled in Chicago, IL for his early years, and then moved to Buffalo, New York. Shay started as a Varsity 2 way tackle on the Williamsville South High School Billies, where he also swam and wrestled. Shay graduated as Salutarorian from South in 1987, and began his college studies at Harvard University. Shay moved home to care for Prem in 1989, and completed his studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Math and Psychology in 1995. A lifelong scholar, he continued his studies and was elected president of his MBA graduating class. Shay received his Masters in Business Administration with a focus in Finance and Human Resources from UB in 1997. For his first job following graduation, he joined Anderson Consulting (later Accenture), with his home base in Atlanta, GA He loved the Thai food there, and an occasional after work single barrel bourbon served neat with colleagues.
Shay returned to Buffalo in 2003, where he helped start the family business, KISAN Engineering, as Vice President. Once Shay's nephew was born, he made regular trips to Naperville, and was a beloved uncle. If an emergency babysitter was needed, Shay would literally fly to the rescue. He planned a move to Naperville prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and did manifest that goal in Spring, 2021. Having him close was the greatest of gifts to Abby and Nate. He would drive Nate to martial arts classes, get Nate's favorite orange chicken from Panda Express, attend middle school concerts and he learned to play UNO & Xbox with proficiency. That is love in its purest form.
In 2019 Shay started working with his brother, Sandy on a variety of business opportunities. They founded Olympus Advisors, their own personal think- tank. At Olympus Shay was Vice President of Operations and delivered optimal results on a variety of projects, laying the foundation for future success. Shay and Sandy were angel investors and consultants for Al/ML companies, FinTech startups, International Business ventures and Cryptocurrency. Together, they cofounded GlobalDocs.
Above all, Shay loved and cherished his family and close friends. Shay devoted his time to selflessly caring for his parents through 20 years of grave and prolonged health ailments. The love and devotion for his parents is representative of who he was. Shay also loved everything Buffalo, especially the Buffalo Bills and UB Bulls. Shay was the ultimate foodie and looked forward to a good dinner with friends and family, like a good meal at Kabob and Curry, the spicier the better! He relished movie and TV nights with friends, happy hour at Gordon Biersch or Bar Louie and shopping at Wegmans. He was an avid history and movie buff, and was always ready with a Tony Soprano quote or Godfather reference.
The world has lost a gentleman, a scholar, the ultimate "big brother" with the most generous of hearts. He will never be forgotten. We will miss his storytelling, endless knowledge of history and trivia and, most of all, his jokes. The beautiful impact he had on his friends and family will be his legacy.