Venkat Raman
Auckland, February 12, 2022
We are sorry to report that Pradeep Kapoor, husband of popular community leader Suman Kapoor passed away in the late hours of Thursday, February 10, 2022, due to heart failure at the Waikato Hospital in Hamilton.
He was 75 years old and left behind his wife Suman, their daughter Richa Kapoor Solanki (who lives in London with her husband and their two sons) and son Saurabh Kapoor (who lives in Melbourne with his wife and their two sons).
A man of goodwill and an eternal smile, Mr Kapoor has had a distinguished career in the hotel and food industry in India and New Zealand and was a pillar of strength to his wife in rendering community and social welfare services.
Extensive tours of duty
Born on October 26, 1946, in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, Mr Kapoor had opportunities to study and work in many cities throughout India, partly because of his father’s employment in Military Engineering Services and partly because of his hotel career. A graduate of the Institute of Hotel Management in Bombay (now Mumbai), he was employed at the hotels of the Taj Group and India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) and other properties and later in the food processing and airline catering sectors.
Mr Kapoor has worked in major properties of ITDC in Bangalore (Karnataka), Kulangot Beach Resort (Kerala), Mamallapuram (Tamil Nadu), Mumbai and Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Delhi, Srinagar (Kashmir), Gujarat (Ahmedabad), Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Among the highlights of his career was hosting (at Hotel Karnavati in Ahmedabad ) the Cricket Teams of India and Pakistan in March 1987. It was at this Test Match that Gavaskar scored his first 10,000 runs in Test Cricket.
Life in New Zealand
Migrating to New Zealand in 2001, Mr Kapoor managed the Commercial Hotel in Hamilton before retiring a few years ago.
“Pradeep’s illustrious career in the hotel industry allowed for the husband-wife team and hence I had the opportunity of working with him at many five-star properties throughout India. It is an experience that I will always cherish,” Suman Kapoor told Indian Newslink.
We have known Mr Kapoor since he arrived in New Zealand more than 20 years ago and we have always been captivated by his robust personality and the goodwill he had for people.
We will miss him and we offer our condolences to the grieving family.
Suman Kapoor is the Founder-President of the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) in Waikato and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. She is also the Hindi Section Editor of ‘Dhanak,’ the annual magazine of the Urdu- Hindi Cultural Association of New Zealand.
Suman Kapoor said that her family is among the many affected by the closure of borders.
“My son Saurabh is in Melbourne and he is unable to travel to New Zealand. My daughter is also keen to visit me but cannot do so because she will not be allowed. Both of them are New Zealand citizens,” she said.
Funeral arrangements are being made, details of which will be announced shortly.
