Rohit Jagadish Mehta

Rohit Jagadish Mehta (1947-2022) passed away on July 21 at Wilcox Memorial Hospital, Lihue, Kauai after a valiant battle with cancer. Rohit was born in Bikaner, India on March 5. He was the eldest son of Dr. Jagadish Manubhai Mehta and Mrs. Kunda Jagadish Mehta.

Rohit attended St. Xavier’s High School and St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai, India. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maine at Orono in 1973.  He started his career in General Electric’s South Portland, Maine Steam Turbine Division and thereafter in senior management and as a consultant in international business development in the power cogeneration industry.

Rohit met his soulmate Lucy Mehta (nee Spalding) at the University of Maine. They married on August 19, 1972. Rohit and Lucy moved to Kauai from Fairfield, Connecticut in 2000. Lucy predeceased Rohit on September 19, 2011 in Kennebunkport, Maine.  

In Kauai, and Maine, Rohit was actively involved in various community development projects, including the Rotary and the Kauai Chamber of Commerce. He served as the General Manager of the Princeville Community Homeowner’s Association (PCHA); board member of Mahealona Hospital; and rotating Chair for Hawaiian Health Care Services (HHCS), among several other organizations.

An avid paddler, Rohit was the President and a founding member of Namolokama O’ Hanalei Canoe Club. He was a Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots fanatic, a keen golfer, and a cricket enthusiast. Rohit was known and admired for his astute leadership skills, his compassion, generosity, and sense of humor. He loved music, gourmet cooking, and travel.

Rohit is survived by his brother Rahul Mehta and partner, Patty Haight, sister Brinda Mehta and husband, Arturo Dávila Sánchez, and his in-laws, the Spalding family – Barbara Spalding, Phil Spalding and Lynn Coffin, Susan Spalding and Ed Franks, Benjamin Spalding and Mandy Holway, Sarah Spalding and Tim Fountain as well as their children. He will be deeply missed.

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