Amherst, Leela Sankaran, 75, passed away peacefully in her sleep at home at 45 Kingman Road in Amherst, MA. She fought a brave battle with a rare form of an autoimmune disease over the past two years.

Leela was born on April 28, 1942 in India and moved to live with her younger son’s family in Amherst in 2008.

After her early education and matriculation in the coastal state of Kerala in India, she moved to Tamil Nadu and married her late husband Shanmugam Sankaran.  She was fluent in Tamil and Malayalam, in addition to her abilities in English.  She was a homemaker in India and she brought up two children – Shanmuga Sundaram of Bangalore, India and S. “Thai” Thayumanavan of Amherst, MA.  Leela was also survived by her daughter-in-laws, Gomathi (Bangalore) and Sharmila (Amherst) and had four grandchildren – Thai Shankar and Santhiya Sundaram of Bangalore and Ethan and Seth Thayumanavan of Amherst. She leaves the family as a very loving mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother.

According to the Hindu tradition that she was brought up in, cremation ceremony will be performed in the Springfield Crematory. 

There will be no funeral service or calling hours. There will be a celebration of life, at the convenience of the family, which will be announced at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Amherst Survival Center.