Rup Chand was born on the 2nd of October 1951 in MaloMalo, Sigatoka. At the age of 4 he moved to Navua with his parents. He was the 5th child of late Mr. and Mrs. Bhagi Rathi of Tokotoko, Navua. Rup attended Navua Primary School until 8th grade and earned his high school diploma at Dudley High (1967-1970). Furthering his education, he accomplished many milestones including his diploma in Telecommunications Engineering (1971-1973), earning a Bachelor of Science in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from UK (1975-1978),and completed with receiving a certificate of management from the University of the South Pacific in 1980. While achieving his educational goals he also worked for P&T in Fiji, as a Senior Engineer and later as an Instructor and Principal of TTC (1971-1985). During his employment with P&T in the Fiji islands, Rup traveled to various countries including Singapore, Japan, Thailand, India, England, Tokyo, Australia and New Zealand. In 1986 he transitioned into working at McConnell Dowell Communications as a Regional Manager. In 1994 he decided to move across the world to the USA. He joined the MCI/World Com as a date test engineer until 1997 and then joined Sprint to work as a Network Operations Manager. He had nearly 38 years in telecommunications with very strong technical, installation, maintenance and management skills. He was great in every aspect of his work and received an abundance of training across 5 different countries.
He met his beloved wife Sheelta in 1973 and married in 1975. They welcomed their beautiful daughter Shalini in 1978.
Rup was a funny, kind person who wanted to help everyone. One of his favorite quotes we will always remember him by was: “Jhaar de Karela”.
He is survived by his wife Sheelta Chand, his only daughter Shalini Chand-Singh, his son in-law Parjeet Singh, three beautiful granddaughters Ashiyana, Avantika, and Anjalika, his brother Prem Chand, his two sisters Padma Wati and Kushma Sharma and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, his three brothers Rishi Ram, Ami Chand, Satish Chand and sister Bina Tamkal.
We are truly going to miss Rup and the amazing man he was. May he Rest in Peace and may his memories live on in our hearts forever.
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