Resham Singh's Obituary
Resham Singh, our Papa Ji peacefully passed away at home in the company of his loved ones on Friday June 4, 2021 at the age of 90. Papa Ji fought a hard battle with Parkinson's disease in the last few years of his long, beautiful life.
Papa Ji was born on September 3, 1930 in the village Jandir of Punjab, India to Didar Singh and Inder Kaur. As a child he was raised by his grandfather Gurdit Singh while his father served in WW2. He was very fond of his grandfather who taught him to read and write Gurmukhi and instilled Sikhi values in him. He attended school under British ruled India and learned Urdu. He was fond of learning but decided to end his studies and join the Punjab Police in the year 1948 to support his family. He served in the police force for 40 years traveling by bicycle and being on duty for 24 hr shifts far away from his 4 children and wife. When he would return home he would help his father, brothers, and sons on the family farm. While on duty he would travel and find used farm equipment which he would purchase and bring home and have his young sons fix. He was very interested in machinery and loved to learn about how things worked. He also found great interest in ayurvedic medicine. Although he struggled to find a teacher, his desire to learn helped him persevere and he studied several books in Urdu and Punjabi and became a self taught ayurvedic doctor. He opened a small shop where he would make ayurvedic medicine and sell it to those that needed it for a small profit. He worked extremely hard for his family to live a better life.
In February of 1993 he moved to the United States to stay with his youngest son. He immediately fell in love with the state of California. He always loved to learn new things and grow, so he started attending adult night school to learn english while working a day job in Silicon Valley’s semiconductor industry. At the same time he raised his grandchildren and tried to instill the values of Sikhi in them by telling them sakhis (stories of the Sikh gurus) every night as they all slept in one big room together. He always tried to be the grandfather to his grandchildren that his grandfather was to him. He was a loving and kind soul who was always there for his family, and he would respond to every situation in life by saying “malak da shukar ah” meaning I am thankful to the creator.
Papa Ji is survived by his wife Swarn Kaur; children, Mukhtiar Singh, Varinder Singh, Amrik Singh, and Jasvir Kaur; 10 grandchildren; and 2 great grandchildren. Funeral Services will be held at Chapel of the Chimes on Wednesday June 16, 2021 from 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM, followed by prayer services at his home in Milpitas CA.
What’s your fondest memory of Resham?
What’s a lesson you learned from Resham?
Share a story where Resham's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Resham you’ll never forget.
How did Resham make you smile?
