Ram Prasad Bashyal

Ram Prasad Bashyal passed peacefully on December 23, 2025.
Born in rural Nepal in the early 1930s, Ram focused his life on education, equality, and family.
Ram changed the trajectory of the entire extended Bashyal clan by ensuring and insisting that each and every family member benefited from higher education, rising from impoverished sustenance farmers to educated professionals.
In those early days, he had no savings. Literally reinvesting every rupee he had left over from his meager teacher's salary to send his younger siblings to school.
Ram initiated change in Nepal by leading movements fighting back against the constraints of the unjust caste system in the 1950s and 60s. He focused his efforts on providing wider access to education for all - regardless of gender, social class, or wealth.
Ram is a founding father of the American Nepali Diaspora, arriving in St. Paul Minnesota in 1970 and moving to Chicago in 1981 when there were only a handful of Nepalese immigrants in the United States. He led, fostered, and nurtured this community becoming an uncle and second father to so many. He spent the bulk of his working career in the US as a Montessori school teacher in Oak Park, IL.
He continued to send most of his savings back to his beloved homeland to fund the education of literally hundreds of young Nepalis who could not afford to go to school. Their children now number in the thousands and most are also educated.
He is survived by not just his immediate family – but by the immeasurable value and lasting legacy he leaves behind - all the lives he changed, hearts he touched, and arcs he lifted.
He was a lion and a legend – there will never be another like him.
Memorial services will be on Saturday, December 27 at 2PM CST at DuPage Funeral Chapel at 951 W Washington St, West Chicago, IL 60185.
Those who cannot attend the pooja in person can view the service through the following online streaming link: https://vimeo.com/event/5615944/586cd2775c?fl=so&fe=fs