Hi, I'm Rama Koteswara Rao (Koti) — Chiranjeevi Kolla's cousin. I'm organizing this fundraiser on behalf of our family. On May 5, 2026, my cousin Chiranjeevi Kolla passed away at Kaiser Permanente in Walnut Creek, California, at the age of 37, after a month-long battle with Valley Fever and respiratory failure. We are raising funds for his wife, Pavani Marella, and their 5-year-old son, Vihan.

Yesterday, our world changed.

If you knew Chiranjeevi, you already know what we lost. He was the kind of person who never raised his voice, never cut a corner, and never made anyone feel small. He gave the very best of himself to two things: the company he worked for, and the family he came home to. Everyone who worked with him respected him. Everyone who knew him loved him.

It started with a cough.

In early April, Chiranjeevi came down with what felt like an ordinary flu. When it kept getting worse, he went to the emergency room. Doctors first called it severe pneumonia. Then the tests came back: it was Valley Fever — a fungal infection caused by Coccidioides, picked up from the air in California's soil. Most people who get it never know. In his case, it overwhelmed his lungs.

He was intubated and placed on a ventilator. For nearly a month, Pavani sat beside him in the ICU, holding his hand, talking to him, telling Vihan that Daddy was fighting hard. Their son is five. He kept asking when his father was coming home.

Yesterday just before noon, he took his last breath. The doctors had done all that medicine could do. After thirty long days of machines and monitors and prayers, his exhausted body could fight no longer.

Chiranjeevi was the heart of his household and its primary provider. His passing leaves Pavani not only grieving the love of her life, but suddenly facing the full weight of a family on her own — a mortgage, daily life with a 5-year-old, hospital bills from a month-long ICU stay, and final rites the family hopes to honor in both California and India.

If you can't give, please share.

A campaign shared by 50 people raises more than one donated to by 5. If you knew Chiranjeevi — through work, school, family, or community — please pass this along. That is how we reach the people who would want to know.

From Pavani, from Vihan, and from all of us — thank you. Chiranjeevi would have been quietly, deeply moved by this. He never asked for anything for himself. The fact that you are here, reading this, says everything about the life he lived.

Pavani will use the donations for: funeral and final rites in California and India; hospital out-of-pocket costs from a 30-day ICU and ventilator stay; twelve months of living expenses for her and their 5-year-old son Vihan (mortgage, utilities, groceries, insurance, and childcare); a 529 college fund for Vihan in his father's name; and a small reserve for estate and administrative paperwork. Pavani will post updates on this page as funds are received and used.

Because Pavani is in early grief and is the primary caregiver to their 5-year-old son, she has given me her full knowledge and consent to organize this fundraiser on her behalf so that she can focus on grieving and caring for Vihan during this time.