My grandmother Aai (Goldie Nadkarni) died peacefully at age 97, on April 23, 2021. “Aai” means “mother” in Marathi. I put together a memorial video from home movies and audio recordings.
Born August 21, 1923 in Brooklyn New York, she was the daughter of Jacob and Fannie Pechenuk. She was preceded in death by her husband, Moreshwar Nadkarni, her older brothers Sidney and Henry Pechenuk, and her daughter Susheela Nadkarni Fallah.
Aai grew up in a Jewish household as a first generation immigrant in Brooklyn, New York. She lived above the family bakery. Aai valued education, the arts, and romance languages, with degrees from Midwood High School, Brooklyn College, Columbia University, University of Iowa, and American University. She married her husband, an East Indian Hindu, and championed diversity and equality through every thought and action throughout her life. They lived for more than 50 years in Bethesda, Maryland in a garden-like oasis of their own creation (5809 Grosvenor Lane). Aai valued her role as a teacher of English as a second language to immigrants from all over the world. She was the eternal optimist, able to see and connect with every soul she encountered. Aai loved and appreciated all things great and small, the color purple, crossword puzzles, and the sound of children’s laughter.
Aai was the matriarch of a large, loving family. She is survived by her biologic and married-in children (Saroj, Vinod, Mohamed, Nalini, Jack, Vinay, Ellen, Mohan, Andrea, Jean), grandchildren (Emil, Sylwia, Nathan, Julia, Amal, August, Natalie, Rikki, Lauren, Alex, Lindsay, Ross, Andrew, Jacob, Jessi, Luke, Daniel, Ben, Ethan, Ryan, Zach) and great-grandchildren (Stefania, Scarlett, Cora, Nolan, Logan, Tarek, Ettan, Zayn, Addie, Jordan).