On October 16, 2022, we heard the unexpected, devastating news of Venkat Lakshminarayanan's death. For many of us, the fact that he is gone is incomprehensible. Many of us are literally having trouble saying the words. It is hard to find words to memorialize a life that was cut too short far too soon. It is hard to speak in the past tense about a person who is so very present to us all.

Venkat was celebrated by his family as a brilliant, curious, light-hearted, and loving son, brother, and cousin. The sound of his laughter and the sweetness of his smile captured the hearts of his family across multiple continents for the four decades we were gifted with him.

A few of his friends shared:

Venkat was the best of us in many of the most important ways — the smartest, the wittiest, the most talented, the most charming, the most wonderful to be around. He was one in 8 billion, one of the universe’s most original creations. The way his mind worked was truly unique; he saw relationships between ideas that no one else was aware of, and from those insights he generated some of the most hysterical punchlines in the history of laughter. He was incredibly imaginative and generous with his imagination; he was the funniest person in every room he ever walked into and made friends wherever he went.

Indeed another friend shared, “Venkat was a nucleus of so many strong relationships, and we all know each other because we know him.”

So many of us are heartbroken in the wake of this loss. But despite the rawness of the wound, there are a number of practical considerations to which we must unfortunately attend: transporting his body across the country to his parents, funerary rituals, cremation, and the other costs that may arise during this unforeseen tragedy. We are grateful for your loving contributions to Venkat's family.