BY IJ NEWS SERVICE
IRVINE, CA – Philanthropist and eminent member of SoCal’s Indian-American community Pravin Mody, 75, passed away peacefully on Feb 27 surrounded by his family. He is survived by his wife Sudha; his son and daughter in law – Ameer and Gana Mody; his daughter and son in law- Ashesh and Sujata Kamdar;
IRVINE, CA – Philanthropist and eminent member of SoCal’s Indian-American community Pravin Mody, 75, passed away peacefully on Feb 27 surrounded by his family. He is survived by his wife Sudha; his son and daughter in law – Ameer and Gana Mody; his daughter and son in law- Ashesh and Sujata Kamdar;
and five grandchildren- Kameran, Rohan, Sarina, Janvi, and Saurin. His most recent act of generosity was a million dollars donation to Pratham USA, which will be used to set up a flagship mega campus for training in technical skills in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. The campus will be known as the PACE-Mody Technical Institute, a fitting legacy to a man who put a high premium on education. Apart from this, the scope of his philanthropy has included funding charitable projects with the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation, South Asian Help and Referral Agency (SAHARA), Ahimsa Center at Cal Poly University at Pomona, the Center for Family Business (CFB) at California State University at Fullerton, and supporting conservation organizations like Yosemite Conservancy and the Sierra Club. He was a big sponsor of the Anaheim Health Fair and the Bidada Health Fairs in Kutch, India.
Mody was born in December 1940 into a lower middle class family in Mumbai. From humble beginnings, he achieved the American Dream. . His family mortgaged the family jewelry to buy him a plane ticket. He came to US in 1962 to study Chemical Engineering, graduating from Oklahoma University He married Sudha in Mumbai in 1969 and became the father of two. Later he also got a MBA from Pepperdine University. Mody bought a small laundry business in 1984 with just six employees in a 2,400 square feet leased facility. He then went on to become the founder of GBS Linens, which today is one of three biggest party linen supply companies in the US with factories and warehouses in eight major cities in five states with several hundred employees.
In an interview with India Journal last year Mody delineated his philosophy of wealth and philanthropy“I am driven by my personal beliefs that money loses its importance quickly once the basic financial needs are met. You are not the owner of your assets, you are just a temporary trustee. Those assets belonged to some one else before you and will belong to some one else after you. It is your duty as the trustee to make the best use of the assets. Use it for the greater good, don’t just hoard it. I have this (unfinished) theory in my mind that a person can only have one of the two relationship with money; that is; “Either money is your servant or money is your master”. Your relationship with your money affects everything you do in your life. Giving for worthy causes gives meaning to my life. Life for me is not only about happiness. Life is about having meaning.” A well- rounded personality, Mody loved traveling and had visited all seven continents and seen a “majority of the countries worth visiting,” as he put it. He was also a student of the martial art - Aikido. His hobbies included exercising to stay fit, reading and playing chess with his grand kids.
Mody was born in December 1940 into a lower middle class family in Mumbai. From humble beginnings, he achieved the American Dream. . His family mortgaged the family jewelry to buy him a plane ticket. He came to US in 1962 to study Chemical Engineering, graduating from Oklahoma University He married Sudha in Mumbai in 1969 and became the father of two. Later he also got a MBA from Pepperdine University. Mody bought a small laundry business in 1984 with just six employees in a 2,400 square feet leased facility. He then went on to become the founder of GBS Linens, which today is one of three biggest party linen supply companies in the US with factories and warehouses in eight major cities in five states with several hundred employees.
In an interview with India Journal last year Mody delineated his philosophy of wealth and philanthropy“I am driven by my personal beliefs that money loses its importance quickly once the basic financial needs are met. You are not the owner of your assets, you are just a temporary trustee. Those assets belonged to some one else before you and will belong to some one else after you. It is your duty as the trustee to make the best use of the assets. Use it for the greater good, don’t just hoard it. I have this (unfinished) theory in my mind that a person can only have one of the two relationship with money; that is; “Either money is your servant or money is your master”. Your relationship with your money affects everything you do in your life. Giving for worthy causes gives meaning to my life. Life for me is not only about happiness. Life is about having meaning.” A well- rounded personality, Mody loved traveling and had visited all seven continents and seen a “majority of the countries worth visiting,” as he put it. He was also a student of the martial art - Aikido. His hobbies included exercising to stay fit, reading and playing chess with his grand kids.
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