Ohio NRI Vijaya Emani, a community leader, killed by truck on turnpike

Cleveland, Jan 20, 2009
Sashi Sharma

NRI Vijaya Emani, 51, single mother of two, of Strongsville and a leader of NRI community, was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer as she stood along the Turnpike in Portage County after her car became disabled on Thursday. She was standing there to get a help.

Vijaya Emani was president of the Federation of India Community Association and became popular by establishing the India Cultural Garden in Cleveland. With the help of NRI group and because of her, a statue of Mohandas Gandhi rose in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens in 2006. She was the longest serving member of the board of the Federation of India Community Associations (FICA).

Raj Pillai, who preceded Emani as a president of FICA said:

• She's a real firecracker
• She believed in helping the community
• She volunteered for the board, I had no idea she would be so passionate about it
• She took college classes, directed fund-raisers, volunteered as a domestic violence counselor

According to her NRI Friends: she was a computer engineer and on her way to work at Kent State University about 8:30 a.m. Her daughters, Sujata and Nirmala, attending colleges in California and Indiana have been reached after the accident.

NRI community leader killed by truck on turnpike