Saroja Devi was born on September 15th 1941 in Channarayapatna, Karnataka, India to Smt. Puttamma n Sri A. N. Kumar.  She was the eldest of eight siblings.

She was trail-blazing for her generation, completing her university studies and her medical degree at a time when it was unusual for women to do so. She married her high school sweetheart, Gopalakrishna, also unusual for the times, in 1967.  They went on to have three children. Daring to emigrate to the United States when there were still few Desi families, in the late 60's, she was active in founding and organizing Indian communities. At the same time, she went on to complete her residency as an OBGYN and start and maintain a medical practice 30+ years. When she retired, she decided to take on the daunting task of public-school teaching in Philadelphia. She and Gopal retired to San Jose in 2018.

In her last years she enjoyed leading her meditation group and gardening. She struggled with cancer, since 2020, and was valiant in her fight until the very end.

She was a woman of true grit, generous, loving, and caring to all who knew her.

She is survived by her husband, Gopalakrishna, her daughters, Charulata, Aparna (Guillaume), her son Mohan, her grandchildren, Arjuna, Savitri, Kalpana, and Kiran, her sisters Usha (Vasantha Rao), Prabha, Poornima (Radhakrishna), Shubha (Shridhara), Anu (Shiva), brothers Guru Swaroop (Revathi) and Anand (Latha), and many many adoring great-nephews and great-nieces.