Mary Valaparla Sukanya

January 8, 1941 - October 31, 2020

Mary Sukanya Valaparla was born January 8, 1941 to John Vedanayakam and Theodora Chegudi. She is the third of seven children. At the age of 13, she lost both her parents. She went for nursing training at Ongole, AP, India at the age of 16. She first started working at Christian Medical College Hospital in Tamil Nadu, followed by working in Durgapur Steel Works, and was finally at Calcutta, West Bengal. She came to the US in 1979 and continued her studies and then worked as a nurse till 2010. She worked mainly at California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) and also worked part-time at other places. She was married in 2000 to Kaj Malthe whom she met at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in San Francisco. She was like a pillar for the family, bringing up her siblings, and taking care of their families. She went through various hardships in life that included losing her parents when she was young, losing her husband, and going through various health issues. She was jovial, kind, generous and a dedicated Christian always helping others. She enjoyed gardening, traveling, needlework, and living in San Francisco. She loved her siblings, Devadas (deceased), Premsagar (deceased), Asirvadam (deceased), Joshua (deceased), Martin, and Christiana. She will be missed by 13 nieces and nephews – Vijay Kumar, Prasanna Kumari, Lilly Theodora, John Vedanakayam, Chinnari Harika, Uday Kumar, Vasanth Kumar, Kiran Kumar, Havila Hepsiba, Dixon Sudhir, Mary Sheela, Deena Shirley, and Suman Babu. The family is thanking all of her relatives, friends and co-workers for being part of Mary’s life journey.