BOSTON—Veteran community leader and one of the founders of United India Association of New England Mool Raj Mathur passed away Wednesday morning due to COVID-19. He was 93.
Mr. Mathur, a long-time resident of Arlington, MA who was living in Bedford, MA, is survived by his two daughters Madhu Mathur Annand and Kunkum Dilwali, son Rajive Kumar Mathur, nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He passed away at 7:50 am on Sept. 30, 2020 at his daughter Kumkum’s home.
Mr. Mathur came to Boston in 1957, and was the first paid-subscriber of INDIA New England News.
Born on Nov. 9, 1927, Mr. Mathur was full of energy, very active in the Indian-American community and introduced himself as “90 years young.” A metallurgist by training, he specialized in the area of high temperature ceramics. At the age of 90, his driver’s license was renewed for five years.
Mr. Mathur was also the founding member of many community associations, including Hindu Society of North Carolina in Raleigh, United India Association of New England, Golden Club, and The Eternal Quest Forum. He has also been active member of India Association of Greater Boston.
Mr. Mathur also had many other accomplishments: He was one of the youngest graduates of Delhi University, getting his B.Sc degree at the age of 16. During college days, he was active in the Quit India movement. He was nationally ranked India No. 4 Badminton Champion. He served as chief chemist and plant superintendent at Coca-Cola, India’s first bottling plant in New Delhi.
After having worked for India’s independence movement, the idea of moving to England did not appeal to him. Instead, he came to United States in a ship, and enrolled at Boston’s Northeastern University to complete prerequisites for a Masters, and settled in Boston.
On the request of his father, Mr. Mathur briefly returned to India and took up a job with Bengal Enamels in Calcutta. Eventually, he came back to the United States. He had a brief stint at a firm in North Carolina where he co-founded Hindu Society of North Carolina with Dr. G.D. Sharma.
But in those days, he had no idea that the founding of the Hindu Society would be viewed suspiciously by his employer. When his boss read about it in the newspaper he questioned Mr. Mathur’s intentions and asked if he was a Hindu Missionary who had come to convert the Christians. He moved to Arlington, MA, and has lived there for about 30 years.
Mr. Mathur credited yoga to his long and active life. He had suffered from a heart attack over a decade ago but because of Yoga, his recovery was remarkable and it also helped him handle stress.
