Washington: Rebecca Somers, the wife of Ron Somers, who is the president of the US India Business Council (USIBC), has died, her family members said.
Rebecca, 55, was suffering from breast cancer for quite some time now.
An outspoken friend of the people of India, she lived in Bangalore and New Delhi between 1992-2004 when Somers was there for the India Private Power Initiative under USAID, the Cogentrix Project, and for UNOCAL.
During her stay in India, Rebecca served as volunteer at an Indira Nagar orphanage and had underwritten dozens of scholarships anonymously for deserving students. She always remained active supporting young women and girls education in India. "She helped me feel the warmth and generosity of heart that is India," Ron Somers said.
Rebecca was born on December 18, 1956 in Chateauroux, France and graduated from University of California, Berkeley.
She was passionate about freedom and democracy and human dignity, which are so evident in India in all its forms in what can accurately be described as the greatest democratic experiment in human history.
Some of her favourite adventures in India include exploring the streams and painted caves of Pachmarhi, bird watching in Coorg and Kumarakum in search of the Paradise Flycatcher, studying the elephant herds in the great jungles of Kabini and Bandipur and Nagarhole, fishing for the great Mahseer along the Cauvery and upper reaches of the Ganga and climbing the forts above Samode.
PTI
