Octogenarian couples who died in US road crash belonged to Gujarat family with close ties to Mahatma Gandhi

However, the four never made it to the temple.

After a search that lasted four days, the bodies of the four octogenarians were located from the West Virginia mountains late on Saturday night.

“Since the area is a ravine with thick vegetation, nothing could be spotted from the ground during police search operations. The helicopters could not locate anything either. Finally, when the mobile data was extracted, it pointed at a certain location. This helped the police locate the bodies. The last signals from their cell phone were located in the surrounding areas of Moundsville and Wheeling,” Himani Divan, daughter of Shailesh and Gita, told The Indian Express.

Last conversation

Recalling the last time the entire family came together, Himani said, “It was last month in the US. Everyone came together from different corners of the world to celebrate my uncle and aunt’s (Dr Kishore and Asha) 60th wedding anniversary. Though the anniversary was on May 11, we decided to celebrate it on June 21 to ensure everyone was present. We danced, sang and had so much fun. Those are some of the most beautiful memories of my parents and uncle-aunt,” Himani said.

Himani returned to Ahmedabad last week while her parents were set to fly back to India next weekend.

Before they left for the temple, Himani’s parents had shared their travel plans with her. “It was 10.30 am (IST). She (my mother) told me that she would call me after returning from the temple and share details of their visit. She sounded excited as it was their (her parents’) first visit to the temple. That was a short conversation as there were network issues,” said Himani.

The Divans, with their residence in Satellite area, are among prominent families of Ahmedabad with their forefathers actively associated with Mahatma Gandhi.

Connection with Mahatma Gandhi

It was Shailesh and Dr Kishore’s maternal grandfather Jivanlal Desai, fondly known as Jivanlal ‘Barrister’ owing to his profession, who gave his bungalow – Jivan Niwas – in Ahmedabad’s Kochrab village to his “barrister associate” Mahatma Gandhi for setting up his first ashram, the Satyagraha Ashram, in May 1915, said Himani. The ashram ran out of this bungalow for two years before Gandhi shifted it to the bank of Sabarmati in 1917.

In May 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the redeveloped Kochrab Ashram. It is now preserved as a memorial and tourist space managed by Gujarat Vidyapith Mandal while the ownership of the building is with the state government. Shailesh and Gita had visited the Kochrab Ashram in March last year. They were also a part of the foundation day celebration of the Ashram held on May 25.

The Divan family is also linked to the Proprietary High School Trust founded by Jivanlal and Asha’s paternal grandfather Balvantrai Thakore in 1931. The trust runs several schools under the name Divan Ballubhai, naming it after the founders. Thakore entrusted the Trust Deed of the school to Mahatma Gandhi in 1930.

Before returning to Ahmedabad after retirement, Shailesh and Asha were based in Mumbai. Shailesh used to work for Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF), popularly known as Amul, and held the position of sales and marketing manager. After retirement, he got involved in social work, especially for the visually challenged. Gita started her career at SBI’s Bhadra branch in Ahmedabad and is said to be one of the first women to be working at the bank.

Dr Kishore moved to the US 45 years ago.

The US authorities, on Sunday, confirmed that the four individuals were found dead in a vehicle crash, adding that their car was located around 9.30 pm (local time) on Saturday off a steep embankment along Big Wheeling Creek Road, barely five miles from the Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold near West Virginia’s border with Pennsylvania.

“We informed the police when their mobile phones were not reachable late on July 29. We got suspicious as they had not reached their destination. They were in their own car, which was being driven by my uncle (Dr Kishore). Looking at the initial information, it looks like their car rolled off the road, deep into the ravines. Perhaps, they lost their balance or misjudged the turn on the winding road,” said Himani, an only child.

As per the Proprietary High School Trust website, in 1930, Jivanlal and Thakore joined the Salt March or Dandi March movement with Mahatma Gandhi and also went to jail for it. “The teachers feared that the British would sequester all their assets and so, transferred the ownership of the school to ‘The Proprietary High School Trust’ in 1931. Before this, in an open meeting on Sabarmati Riverbank, Ballubhai Thakore entrusted the Trust Deed to Mahatma Gandhi,” the website stated.

The school has been managed by the trust ever since.

On Sunday, the Hindu Cultural Society of Western New York (HCSWNY) wrote on its Facebook page: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing away of Dr Kishore Divan, Mrs Asha Divan, Mr Shailesh Divan and Mrs Gita Divan. The Divan family is a pillar of the Indian Community of WNY. Dr Divan’s contributions to our community have been long and sustained. He was the founding member of Hindu Cultural Society of WNY and the India Association of Buffalo. Both Dr Kishore Divan and Mrs Asha Divan were well-known, familiar and recognizable faces in the Indian community. Their absence will leave a lasting void in our WNY community.”

Dr Kishore and Asha are survived by two sons, five grandchildren and one great grandson, all settled in the United States. All four will be cremated in the US, family members said.