Dr. Ila (Mukherjee) Sircar, formerly of Kolkata (West Bengal), lived in six states throughout the United States, and most recently resided in Santa Clara (California). She left this earth without pain or fear on October, 25, 2024. Ila was 86.

Born on April 1, 1938, in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, to Kalyani (née Banerjee) and Nirod Mukherjee, Ila was the second of four children and the only girl. She spent her childhood in a quiet neighborhood with her parents and brothers, three of her uncles, extended family, and neighbors who became like family. Studying was her first passion, and she also enjoyed singing, reading, and the occasional movie. She walked to school and played with friends on the apartment rooftop. Her favorite holidays were New Year's Day and Durga puja, because they were filled with uplifting lectures, melodies, prasads, and street food. Boat rides became a family tradition; she would take excursions on vessels small and large, on rivulets and harbors in new towns and cities (a tradition her family still enjoys to this day).

Ila was a brilliant chemist, and graduated from Presidency College at Calcutta University, where she received a Gold Medal with honors for her Bachelor of Science degree – the first young woman to achieve a "First Place, First Class" distinction in chemistry. She received a Silver Medal for her Master of Science, and top marks for her PhD – an extremely rare accomplishment in any era, and most certainly for a young woman who chose to study science in the late 1950s in India just after partition. She then taught organic chemistry for the MSc program at Calcutta University.

In what her husband describes as "love at first sight - I felt that I had known that girl forever"  – Jagadish spotted Ila in 1958. Young men and women were not able to speak freely in those days, so he waited to speak with her until they became acquainted in the chemistry lab four years later. They immediately connected and fell in love over long walks and chemistry talks. Despite being from different castes, which posed significant challenges from both inside and outside of their families at that time, they married in 1963.

Two years later, the two chemists moved halfway around the world, settling in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she worked for the United States Department of Agriculture Southern Regional Research Center. Over the next 60 years, the couple welcomed their two beloved children while criss-crossing the country from Louisiana to Florida, from New Jersey to Michigan, and then to Pennsylvania before finally settling in California. The early years brought challenges, but Ila was never daunted and met each obstacle with her characteristic energy and formidable mind. She started with a data entry/ keypunch job, then commuting by train 40 miles roundtrip to work in a Rutgers University research lab. She would eventually author numerous patents in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery, and travel to Germany and Japan to discuss her innovative discoveries.

An accomplished gardener, Ila taught herself how to grow trees, plants, flowers, fruits, and vegetables in a variety of climates, and in all of the places where she lived. She found utility in all sorts of things, saving containers of various shapes and sizes to hold the next delicious garden find or sweet treat that she would cook and enthusiastically share with her friends and neighbors. The garden became so prolific that in one season, she donated more than 200 pounds of peaches to the local food pantry. She never stopped her quest for knowledge – from learning to sing and play harmonium in her younger years, to taking lessons in piano and swimming while simultaneously trying to shape the lives of teenagers, to teaching herself vertical/ hanging vegetable gardening in her late 70s. Ila was professionally renowned for her contributions to the field of chemistry, having authored and co-authored more than 65 new drug discovery patents and mentored countless colleagues. Her cooking was second-to-none, and readily sought after by her family and close friends (especially her dals, curries, sandesh, rosgolla, and payesh). Ila saw beauty in all sorts of places. She collected art by local artists everywhere she lived and traveled, and saved colorful paper for her grandkids to create the next masterpiece that she would hang on her bulletin boards.

Ila leaves on this earth her husband of 61 years, Jagadish Sircar, her son, Subrata (married to dear Susan), her daughter, Keka (married to dear Mark), and her grandchildren, AJ and Sophia. Preceding her in death are her three brothers and her parents. She is loved and honored by sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews, dear friends, neighbors, and colleagues all over the world. Those who knew her well will always remember her constant motion, loving nature, and devotion to studying, learning, and solving problems. We admired her unmatched ability to recall numerous facts and figures about all people important to her (followed up by calling and sending cards in the mail for ordinary and special occasions). We will miss her exceptional cooking; she prepared her specialties exactly the way we loved them, whenever we would come to visit. We will love her and deeply miss her forever.

The Hindu pooja and cremation ritual (Antyesti) was held on November 2, at the Alameda Family Funeral Home in Saratoga, California. The Śrāddha was held at the Sunnyvale Hindu Temple & Community Center on November 5, in Sunnyvale, California. We as her family are sincerely grateful for all of the family and friends who have called, texted, emailed, provided hugs, prepared food, and sent flowers and other messages of support. You are proof that Ila's fierce dedication to connection, care, diligence, and love lives on in you.

All expressions of sympathy and comfort for the family are welcome. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the scholarship funds at the American Chemical Society, to support budding chemists. To honor her, make your voice known by voting, teaching yourself something new, growing something, finding beauty around you, and sharing it with someone. Om shanti, shanti, shanti.

Painting of Ila Sircar by her nephew, Madan Gopal Dutta