Krishnaswamy Rajagopalan

Dr. Krishnaswamy Rajagopalan passed away in the early morning on 26 June 2024 at home in Houston. He is
survived by immediate family - wife Pattu Rajagopalan, son Ravi Iyer, daughter-in-law Hema Iyer,
granddaughter Shruti Iyer and her husband Rohan Krishnamurthy and his great-granddaughters - Amara and
Shivika.
Born on 18 November 1927 in South India, he studied in Coimbatore graduating with a Bachelor's degree in
Agriculture and a Doctorate in Plant Pathology from the University of Madras. He conducted research,
specializing in Virology for Rice Crops and taught at the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University. He retired
after 36 years of dedicated service.
Born in a family of 6 siblings, his father passed away when he was 21 and his elder brother passed away when
he was 24. Thus, he shouldered the responsibility of his siblings and their families at a young age. He had to
put his doctoral ambitions on hold, and set off to work after his bachelors. After caring for his siblings and their
families, and settling them, he then completed his doctorate a decade later. He was a respected father figure for
the family.
His professional legacy is highlighted by his yeoman contribution of conducting 22 years of research on a
SINGLE VIRUS dolichos enation mosaic virus producing scores of publications while guiding Masters and
Doctoral students.
The secret to his longevity was highlighted by his disciplined daily living. He always ate only what his body
needed at specified times. His spiritual sadhana was reading before noon daily, the Sundara Kandam of the
Ramayana 1123 times over four+ decades till his vision deteriorated at age 94. He replaced his daily spiritual
regimen due to the vision loss, by chanting the Gayatri Mantra 1008 times every morning until his death. His
daily evening enjoyment consisted of listening to Carnatic Music Concerts, Katha Kalakshepams, or Talks on
spiritual or biography topics for 3-hours. We could set our clocks by his wake-up, breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner
and bed times.
He will be lovingly remembered by family and friends as a caring, thoughtful soul who dedicated his boundless
energy in service to family and science.
A Hindu service cremation arrangement was entrusted to SouthPark Funeral Home, Pearland, Te