Date of Birth
March 5, 1982
Date of Death
July 4, 2021
Location
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cause of Death
Maternal Mental Health
Who She Was
Her Story
Radhika was a loving mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and medical doctor and was deeply loved by so many. She created communities around her and forged bonds that were truly deep, withstanding the boundaries of distance and time with friends, family, neighbors, classmates, colleagues, and patients. To know Radhika was to have someone who was unconditionally in your corner and to have a relationship that never faded. Her loss is mourned by her tribe across the globe from Vellore to Ramnee to St. Benedict’s and St. John’s to Stanford University to the University of Minnesota, her neighborhood, and her clinic in Minneapolis – we may even have missed a few in this list.
Radhika was born in New Delhi in 1982 and grew up in India. Radhika was born to give a daughter’s love to anyone who yearned for that connection. To her parents, Navin and Shafigeh, Radhika personified courage. She gave them the gift of strength that allowed them to build their lives dedicated to service and persist with their dreams for their family, no matter what challenges came their way.
Growing up, she excelled at everything she put her heart to and was the pride of her parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, teachers and her personal collection of godparents and campus parents who considered Radhika every bit their own. As a teenager, she became a natural leader, and while she had many followers, she was particularly adored by her two younger sisters, Tahireh and Tanya who loved and looked up to their ‘Didi’ and wanted to be everything she was – beautiful, intelligent, confident and fierce with her love.
She came to the United States for undergraduate studies at the College of Saint Benedict in 1999 and graduated college with a double major in Economics and Computer Science with the intent of supporting her sisters’ education. At college Radhika’s tribe only grew with friends, professors, mentors and host parents who gave her a new home in Minnesota. When she met Seth, her husband from this same tribe her connections to Minneapolis were cemented and it became her home. Roger, Joanne and the Snyder and Halloran families cherished and loved her, welcoming her with open arms.
Seth and Radhika went on to live their dreams, traveling the world, moving to the Bay Area for graduate school and growing their tribe to include the communities at Stanford and Radhika’s work. Despite her success at work, Radhika took a giant leap at age 28 and decided to start from scratch to pursue a career in medicine. It was a long and intense journey, from taking pre-med science classes, completing research internships, applying and interviewing at multiple medical schools across the country. She was rewarded with a spot in the Medical School at the University of Minnesota where Seth also enrolled for his doctorate in education. In 2012, Radhika and Seth were blessed with their beloved daughter and together over the next few years the three of them earned a PhD, an MD and a preschool diploma with the support of family, friends and their ever-growing tribe.
Radhika became a doctor to help and serve the community, and chose to specialize in family and maternal health in the community where she lived. Her tribe grew to include her residency classmates, colleagues and staff at her clinics who had the great privilege of seeing Radhika at her finest, in service and living the dream she had worked so hard for.
Seth and Radhika were blessed with a son in April this year and in the 10 weeks they had together as a family of four, they were complete. Their joy and happiness was felt and celebrated across the globe, across their tribe.
Radhika was exceptional and achieved so much in the face of her struggle with the postpartum depression and psychosis that took her life suddenly. As her family and friends deal with their profound grief, we also want to celebrate her life and everything she accomplished. As we keep her memories alive, may her tribe continue to grow and nurture her children.