NIRMAL DAS

Nirmal Kanti Das Age 84, loving husband, father, grandfather and respected academic, passed away peacefully from advanced Alzheimer's disease on Easter Sunday, April 8th 2012 in Berkeley California. Nirmal was born in Chittagong India, now Bangladesh. After receiving his Masters degree at the University of Calcutta, he travelled by boat to the United States so he could attend the University of Wisconsin's PhD program in Zoology. While in Madison, he met and married his soul mate Faye Ann Paske on June 28th, 1958. Shortly after receiving his PhD, they moved to California where Nirmal became a post-doctorate research fellow in Zoology and eventually a professor at the University of California. In 1973, the family moved to Lexington Kentucky, where Nirmal was a professor at the University of Kentucky medical school. In 1978, he continued his career in Washington D.C. joining the National Institutes of Health, first with the Institute on Aging and then with the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where he worked exclusively on AIDS research and reviewing grant proposals. Wanting to be closer to their friends, Nirmal and Faye returned to Berkeley California in 1989. There, Nirmal became the Director of the University-Wide AIDS Research Program until he retired in 1995. Nirmal was a master gardener who could grow just about anything anywhere. In Kentucky, at the family cabin, he grew so many vegetables that he had to give them away to all his friends. At his home in Berkeley, flowers were seen growing from cracks in the pavement. He loved fishing and through some Zen-like process would catch fish after fish, while those next to him would watch, frustrated. Nirmal and Faye loved to travel and would choose exotic locations all over the world including China, the Galapagos, Africa and South America. Nirmal is survived by his wife Faye Ann Das, his children Robin K. Das (Beth S. Berkson) and Anita F. Das, his grandchildren Kevin C. Das and Jessica A. Das, and his brother and sister in India, Parimal and Runu. Private services for family and close friends will be held on April 28th, 2012. In lieu of flowers, the family is taking donations, which will benefit local Alzheimer's patients. Donations should be made to the Northern California Alzheimer's Association, www.alz.org/norcal or 1060 La Avenida, Mountain View, CA 94043.