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IN LOVING MEMORY

Rathin Datta

Rathin Datta.jpeg

Power in Numbers

Rathin's Celebration of Life

Rathin's family looks forward to welcoming you to a celebration of his life. We hope you will join us to laugh, cry, and share memories of Rathin. Refreshments and heavy appetizers will be served.


Due to the guest capacity at the venue, we must limit the number of in-person guests. We kindly ask that you do not forward this invitation to others.

Date

Saturday, September 30th

Time

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4:00 PM CDT

Location

Goodman Theatre

 170 N Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60601

Day-Of Schedule 

Doors Open: 4:00 PM CDT

Celebration of Life Ceremony: 4:30 PM CDT

Reception to Follow

Rathin's Ceremony Recording

To view the recording of Rathin's Celebration of Life, please click the button below.

Project Gallery

Please RSVP Below 

The registration for Rathin's celebration is now closed, as the deadline to RSVP was Friday, September 8th.

 If you have any questions about your RSVP, please email support@lightenarrangements.com or call (312) 373-0847.

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Parking and Transportation

Parking Lots:

Government Center -181 N. Clark Street (located on the southeast corner of Clark and Lake Streets)

Theatre District -181 N. Dearborn Street (located across from the theater on Dearborn Street)

(If you bring your parking ticket to the Information Desk at Goodman Theatre, they will validate it for you and it will provide you with a discounted rate)

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CTA

Goodman Theatre is approximately one block from CTA “L” subway lines. The nearest accessible train stations include the Red Line stop at Lake, and the Blue, Pink, Green, Orange, Purple and Brown Line stop at Clark/Lake. 

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Bus

The nearest stops are on Dearborn/Randolph and Clark/Lake.

Life Story

Dr. Rathin Datta, 74 years old, died in Chicago on the morning of April 17, 2023, after a very brief and unexpected illness. He died holding the hand of his loving wife of 48 years, Alicia Reyes, and surrounded by many old friends.

Dr. Datta was born in Kolkata, India. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur with a bachelor of technology degree, and from Princeton University with a PhD in chemical engineering. He went on to become a renowned chemical engineer whose many achievements were widely recognized, particularly in relation to climate solutions. For over 40 years he worked to develop and commercialize technologies in renewable resources for both established and emerging companies. Over his long career, he was granted more than 50 US patents and published over 40 papers in the areas of bioproducts, bioprocess technologies, fermentation, separation, enzyme catalysis, and energy conversion, among others. Dr. Datta received many awards, including the Ernest W. Thiele award, the Presidential Green Chemistry award, Discover magazine's Environmental Technology of the Year award, and the IIT Distinguished Alumnus of the Year award.

In addition to his scientific pursuits, Dr. Datta was a mean tennis player, a connoisseur of scotch, and a lover of music. He particularly loved opera, chamber music, and Indian classical music, and learned to play the sitar. He adored his two cats, Akbar and Saleem. He was always keen to introduce his American friends to Indian culture and cuisine, and he loved to travel the world. One of his favorite places was Delicate Arch in Utah, where he said God lived. Happily, he was able to see it once more not long before he died.

Dr. Datta, son of Amulya Datta and Karuna Datta, who both predeceased him, is survived by his beloved wife, Alicia Reyes, his sister Sucharita Negi (Ravi Negi), her sons Shantanu and Siddhartha, and his niece Dr. Rhea Datta. His brother Dr. Rajat Datta predeceased him. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Ratna Datta and two grandnieces and a grandnephew, and by the whole universe of friends whose lives he touched so deeply. Om shanti, may his soul find release on its next journey.

Guest Book

Leave your memories, condolences, or well-wishes.

Donations

Donations in Rathin's memory may be made to:

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Moab Music Festival

58 E 300 S
Moab, UT 84532

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South Asia Classical Music Society

C/o Farrukh Khawaja, Treasurer

1604 Tahoe Circle Drive 

Wheeling, IL 60090

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