Mahan Kali, 78, of Somerdale, NJ, passed away peacefully at Virtua Hospital, Voorhees, NJ surrounded by his family and close friends on Saturday, July 18, 2015.

Mahan Kali is survived by his wife Grace, daughter Sukruta, sons Anand and Paul, brothers-in law Anil K. Paul from Philadelphia & E. Abraham from Hyderabad and loving nieces, nephews and extended family.

Mahan Kali was born on July 1, 1937 into a poor farming family to Mr. Veeraiah and Mrs. Velugamma Mylabathula in a small village called Valamarru in Andhra Pradesh. Working hard through his humble beginnings, he was the first person in his family to graduate high school and received a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Andhra University, Kakinada in 1962.

He started his career in Hyderabad as a Junior Civil Engineer in Public Works Dept. for the State Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, preparing detailed structural drawings and designing buildings. Thereafter, from 1963-1969, he worked as a Design Engineer for Indian Ministry of Railways in Lucknow designing bridges and various types of structures for all zonal railways. He left Indian Railways to join Ministry of Water Resources for Govt. of India as an Assistant Research Officer (Engineering) in 1969 and during the course of years,  moved up to Senior Research Officer with Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS).  There, he conducted model studies on hydraulic turbines, high head gates, and roto-dynamic pumps etc. in multi test water tunnels. He also planned and designed laboratories including United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) aided projects and contributed to many research reports for studies conducted by the Central Water Commission. He was also responsible for providing cost estimates and evaluating tenders for complex construction projects such as research laboratories and dams. He was offered the position of Director in Central Water Commission in 1991.

During the course of his research studies in Simla and as a single bachelor in 1970, he applied for a research project study in the United States. He got married in 1971 and moved to Pune, Maharashtra where he settled with his wife and three children. In November 1990, he received an unexpected letter from the United States Embassy requesting an interview and apologizing for misplacing his paperwork. He wrote back to the Embassy about his current marital status, children and the termination of the position applied 20 years ago. In response and with sincere regrets, the US Embassy offered immigration to the entire family without any restrictions. He kept his position as Director in Central Water Commission on hold and traveled to Philadelphia with his wife and children in June 1991.

Mahan was born into a Hindu family and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour when he was a bachelor in Lucknow upon meeting a few missionaries. He attended Hebron Ministry led by Bro. Bakht Singh and thereafter became an ardent follower of Christ. He attended branches of Hebron ministries in various cities in his journey in life and enjoyed spending time with the Lord especially at Bethany House of Worship in Pune and Philadelphia. He loved mathematics, architecture, trains, traveling, gardening, cooking, drinking tea, reading and spending time with friends and family.

The family will receive friends on Saturday, July 25, 2015 from 10 -11 am at Bringhurst Funeral Home, 225 Belmont Ave., Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004, followed by service at the funeral home chapel from 11 am -12 pm and finally will be laid to rest at West Laurel Hill Cemetery, 215 Belmont Ave., Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004.