Hepzy G. Durai

Hepzy Glory Durai, retired teacher and beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away on July 19, 2024, at Quakertown Center in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. She was 91.
Born on Nov. 7, 1932 in Mettur, Tamil Nadu, India, she was the youngest of five. Her parents, Thayarammal Jebamani and Ratnasiromani Nadar, were both teachers. Jebamani was the daughter of Solomon Nadar, principal of the historic Schwartz High School for Boys. In those days Jebamani could get certified as a teacher after 8th grade.
Hepzy became a teacher also, earning her first degree from Sarah Tucker College in Palayamkottai and a second one from Madras Christian College. In the 1950s, she worked as a teacher away from her parents' home, at a time when it was rare for young unmarried Indian women to be so independent.
In 1960, she got married to I.V. Durai, who was also a teacher, and they taught for several years in Tamil Nadu. In 1965, not long after their two children were born, they had an opportunity to move to Zambia and help fill the shortage of teachers in the newly independent country. They taught at Namwala Secondary School in the Southern Province until 1969, when they moved to Ndola, where Hepzy taught mathematics at Kansenshi Secondary School and her husband taught at Chifubu Secondary School.
In 1973, they moved to Luanshya when Durai got a promotion to deputy headmaster. But they were there for only a few months when tragedy befell the family. While traveling to Mukinge, North-Western Province, Durai was killed in a car accident and Hepzy suffered severe injuries that took almost a year to recover from.
Overcome with grief and suddenly thrust into the role of single provider for her family, Hepzy had to decide whether to stay in Zambia or return to India. With support from her close friends, she decided to continue working in Zambia. She was able to get a transfer back to Kansenshi Secondary School in Ndola to be closer to her friends. In 1980, she moved to Lusaka and taught at Kamwala Secondary School. Three years later, largely because many teaching positions were being filled by native Zambians, Hepzy sought and accepted a teaching position in Umtata, Transkei. After sending her son to America for college in 1982, she had the courage and vision to send her daughter as well in 1984, despite having to live alone and make financial sacrifices. She was able to educate her children in America as a single parent partly by living frugally and tutoring many students privately.
Upon retirement in 1997, she immigrated to America and lived with her daughter, Irene Philips, and son-in-law, Santosh, for 25 years, until her declining health required her to be in a nursing home.
She enjoyed spending time with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchild, and talking to friends, including family friends who had moved from Zambia to America.
A believer in Christ, she prayed and read the Bible every day, and she attended Grace Baptist Church of Blue Bell and later Cornerstone Fellowship. It was her top priority to ensure she was able to get to church. She learned how to use a computer and the internet, allowing her to start an email list to share Christian messages with hundreds of people. It gave her great pleasure to feel that she was helping spread the Word of God.
Despite being diagnosed with diabetes in her late 30s, she managed to live a long life with medication, exercise and a strict diet that in later years included weighing her food before she ate it. She would take long walks every day, and even when she needed the help of a walking aid, she would walk many times around the kitchen island in her daughter's home. Because of her discipline, resilience, and determination, Hepzy's family is blessed with many privileges today.
She is survived by her daughter Irene Philips (late Santosh Philips), son Melvin Durai (Malathi Raghavan), grandchildren Sunil Philips, Supriya Philips, Reena Philips (Domenick Braccia), Lekha Durai, Divya Divya and Rahul Durai, and great-grandson, Remy Braccia. She was preceded in death by her parents, her four siblings, Christopher, Rajasingh, Daisy and Mercy and son-in-law Santosh.
A Celebration of Life service will be held at 3PM, Sunday Aug. 11th, 2024 at Cornerstone Fellowship, 1170 Rittenhouse Road, Audubon, PA 19403. Click here for directions.