‘REMARKABLE PERSON’: WRCF fund honours spirit of Waterloo South Asian community ‘pioneer’ Laxmi Kesavan

Laxmi Kesavan with her six grandchildren. Left to right: Dileep Srihari, Arun Srinivasan, Kavita Sarathy, Laxmi Kesavan, Rahul Srinivasan, Anand Sarathy, Ashok Srihari

‘She had to carve her own path’

Laxmi Kesavan followed her husband to Michigan State University in 1957, leaving behind her familiar homeland of India.

When the young couple arrived in Waterloo in 1960, the move was again driven by her husband H.K. Kesavan’s career path. He had accepted a position as a professor at the University of Waterloo, where he ultimately went on to establish the school’s renowned Department of Systems Design Engineering.

It was a new place in a new country and the challenges were immense.

“She had to carve her own path, really, in coming to the West and ultimately living most of her life in Canada and Waterloo,” said Dileep Srihari, one of Laxmi’s six grandchildren. “In Waterloo, there were not very many people that looked like her. It was a very German-Mennonite culture in Waterloo in the 1960s. It was quite something, her story.”

Laxmi, who passed away on Nov. 30, 2022, in Bangalore, India, at age 86, dedicated her life to helping others. She was an early member of Waterloo Region’s East Indian Ladies Club, worked in local schools as a cafeteria aide, supported various community organizations, and opened her home to many, all while raising three daughters and continuing to provide regular support to family members back home.

For many years, the family home on Glenridge Drive served as an anchor point for family and friends coming from India for either short or long-term stays. Laxmi’s work in the kitchen was the stuff of legends.

“When visitors would come to the house, she would cook for them. Family visitors coming to the home, they had no other point of contact in Canada,” Srihari said. “It became a pilgrimage to visit Waterloo. They came to my grandparents’ home because they knew they’d be given a home, a bed, and good food. It was a touchstone… not just for our family but for a whole extended network of people who looked up to her with great respect, far beyond her own children and grandchildren.

“It’s a much broader network of people. She helped shape their life experiences and helped give them a start here in the West,” he added.

Laxmi Kesavan

The Laxmi Kesavan Memorial Fund, recently established through Waterloo Region Community Foundation (WRCF), will ensure Laxmi’s legacy lives on through the spirit of giving back. It was created as a result of numerous memorial donations made by family and friends.

While the family has spread out around the U.S., Canada and India, the choice to establish the fund in Waterloo Region always made sense. (The family also created the H.K. Kesavan Scholarship at the University of Waterloo following his death in 2014).

“It was important to us that my grandmother's spirit… she was a pioneer in the community… that part of her legacy lives on in Waterloo,” Srihari said. “Everyone has since moved away and in 2018, the house was sold, but it was such a formative part of our lives. I was born in Buffalo, but when I was 10 days old, I was brought across the border to Waterloo for my very first Christmas at my grandparents' house.

“The idea of keeping the family connection to Waterloo in some way was very important. This permanent fund through WRCF was a way to honour that legacy,” he added.

WRCF’s funding and distribution model was immediately appealing to Srihari, a Washington, D.C.-based lawyer.

“I've always been a believer in setting up a legacy through an endowed gift that spins off income rather than just giving expendable gifts. That's a philosophy I believe in,” he said. “And then after my grandmother passed away, I was thinking, ‘gosh, we've done this for my grandfather, but my grandmother was such a remarkable person, we should do something for her, too.’”

Srihari said the relationship with WRCF, while in its infancy, has been strong and he encourages others who might be considering a similar fund to pursue it.

“It's the type of thing that's not as well known in immigrant circles. I would absolutely encourage people in the Indian community or other communities to get more involved in their local communities through WRCF or other groups,” he said.

Laxmi was passionate about many organizations in the community, including the Food Bank of Waterloo Region, Community Support Connections, St. John’s Soup Kitchen, Anselma House, Conestoga College, and Carizon (now Camino Wellbeing + Mental Health).

She was equally passionate about her beloved Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team and Buffalo Bills football team.

“She was one of the biggest Bills fans of all. We took her to a game once in the '90s. We took her in her sari, wearing a winter coat over it,” Srihari said.

WRCF offers a range of fund types to choose from, depending on philanthropic interests and desires for specific levels of involvement in annual granting decisions.

Funds can be established in your name, or in the name of your family, your organization or anyone you wish to honour. If you would like to learn more about setting up a fund, contact Dan Robert at dan@wrcf.ca or 519-725-1806 x 205.

For more information about WRCF, visit wrcf.ca.