Narayan M. Prachand

Narayan M. Prachand, age 89, of Glenview, transitioned peacefully on Thursday, September 18, 2025, at 8:53 p.m., at Endeavor Health Glenbrook Hospital in Glenview, surrounded by his loved ones near and far. He was the devoted son of the late Martand and Godavari (née Tilloo); beloved husband of Sheila (née Kalamkar) for 59 years; loving father of three sons: Vivek, Amit (Ratna), and the late Atul Prachand; and cherished grandfather of four beloved grand-daughters: Sejal, Anjali, Arya, and Jaida.

Narayan Prachand was born April 28, 1936, in Murtijapur, Maharashtra, India, as the sixth of twelve dear siblings (Suman, Ramkrishna, Nalini, Purushottam, Hari, Gopal, Urmila, Kamal, Dattatrya, Vishnu, Ahilya). After completing his BE in Civil Engineering, he taught for two years at Government Engineering College in Morvi, Gujarat.

Desiring to further advance his education, after receiving a prestigious TATA loan scholarship, he chose to come to the United States in 1961 to the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. After obtaining his MS in Structural Engineering, he moved to Chicago in 1962 where he started work at Saether and Associates and then Consoer Townsend Envirodyne, which merged to become AECOM, where he became the Head of Structural Engineering. His professional career included the design of hospitals, schools, and high rises and development of innovative civil infrastructure in challenging environments, including Chicago's Deep Tunnel Project and a scientific research facility in Antarctica. After retiring in 2012, his expertise remained in demand and he continued to provide engineering consulting services until 2016.

After his marriage to Sheila in a small town near Nagpur, India on August 23, 1966, the newlyweds completed his trip around the world, which included stops in Bangkok, Singapore, Tokyo, Rome, Paris, and London before starting their life together in Chicago, living in the Buena Park neighborhood in the city. They moved to their home of fifty-one years in Glenview in 1974 where they raised their three sons. He was an aficionado of all forms of music, with Indian classical music and bhajans being his greatest passion. He organized and hosted packed performances by some of the most prominent musicians from India, including Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Jasraj, Begum Parveen Sultana, Smt. Kishori Amonkar, Dr. Smt. N. Rajan, and Ustad Zakir Hussain in their home. He encouraged Sheila to learn to play the sitar and supported her by learning to play tabla, and instilled his love of music in his sons and shared his passion with friends.

Though initially few in number, Narayan and his fellow immigrants from Maharashtra quickly formed a tightly-knit community of families in the Chicagoland area, frequenting each other's homes for home-cooked meals and gappa and organizing picnics at local parks and forest preserves. Together, in 1969 they created the first of its kind community organization of Marathi language speakers, the Maharashtra Mandal of Chicago, and he served as its second President. Today, there are nearly 60 Maharashtra Mandals in cities across North America, where they support traditional Maharashtrian cultural programs such as Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali, Makar Sankrant, and Gudhi Padava as well as Marathi language plays written and performed by community members and artists from India.

Narayan was a founding member and trustee of the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago, established in 1986, working with the broader Indian community in the Chicagoland area to build the first Hindu temple in the region. He chaired the Building Committee during the construction of both the Rama temple and the Rajagopuram. He was also instrumental in securing the Dhwaja Stambha and its installation in 1998, and donated countless hours of his professional expertise to the organization for nearly two decades.

Throughout his extensive professional, community, and volunteering commitments, Narayan was deeply respected for the humility, dignity, excellence, and calm reassurance that he brought to each and every interaction. He brought these same qualities to his personal relationships, but with a softness and twinkle in his eye that would reveal itself to his family and his many close friends, and most vividly expressed in his love for his beloved wife Sheila and his nine grand-daughters and grand-nieces. Though he is deeply missed, his legacy and impact is remarkably pervasive.

Visitation, Thursday, September 25, 2025, from 10 a.m. until time of Pooja Service, 11 a.m., at HABEN Funeral Home & Crematory, 8057 Niles Center Rd., Skokie, with cremation immediately following.

In lieu of sending flowers, memorial contributions may be made to an educational foundation or institution of your choice.

Funeral info: 847.673.6111 or habenfuneral.com to leave a condolence message.