Dr. Rajendra Charles Solomon (also known as Raja), aged 76, of Gainesville VA, passed away peacefully on August 29, 2020 surrounded by his immediate family.

Raja was born on December 27, 1943 in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh in India and was the eldest of 6 children. He is preceded in death by his parents, Sunny and Maxlina Solomon, and his brother, Daniel Solomon.

He is survived by his loving daughters: Dr. Vinita Mary Volk (Greg Volk) and Monica Veronica Spiegler (Chris Spiegler); 8 grandchildren: Joseph Solomon Volk, Emmanuel Raj Volk, Joshua Gregory Volk, Matthew Bernard Volk, Veronica Mary Volk, Ava Mary Spiegler, Cora Ann Spiegler, and Caleb Robert Spiegler. He is also survived by his brother Mahendra (Sushma), his sister Romila (Noble), his sister Promila (Anupam), his brother Edward John (Dolly), as well as several nieces and nephews.

Raja immigrated to the United States from India in 1971 to pursue the "American Dream." He worked minimum wage jobs in the heart of New York City to further support his education in electrical engineering and his family in India. He was bright, energetic and passionate about his studies. He graduated from Lucknow University in India with an MS in Nuclear Physics, Polytechnic Institute of New York with a MSEE and Computer Science, Northfield University UK with a PhD in Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, and lastly completed post graduate courses in computer science and signal processing at the University of Minnesota.

Raja started his career as a Research Engineer at Bhabha Atomic Energy Centre in Trombay, Mumbai, India. Ultimately, he reached the height of his career over the last several years working as a Senior Defense Warfare Engineer and eventually retiring this summer. His achievements and unique engineering expertise made him highly sought after.

Raja had tremendous joy in being a loving grandfather to his 8 grandchildren. He enjoyed holding and rocking them as babies and watching them grow over these last several years. After the birth of his grandchildren, he knew he had attained the "American Dream," as they are his legacy and his memory lives on through them. His hope for his grandchildren, Jay, Manny, Josh, Matt, Veera, Ava, Cora and Caleb is for them to positively contribute to this world with love and kindness.

Raja was a big fan of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies, “hot hot” black tea with milk and sugar, PBS Newshour with MacNeil and Lehrer, laddu and burfi (East Indian sweets), and our faithful family dog, Kushi. He also loved aviation, space travel, and astronomy. Furthermore, Raja was a true patriot and took great pride in being part of the United States of America.

Raja was a faithful follower of Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He recognized that understanding the main tenets of the Christian faith such as redemption, justification, sanctification, and the resurrecting power of Jesus Christ would bring him closer into relationship with God. His favorite songs were "Morning is Broken" and "Great is Thy Faithfulness."

On his deathbed, Raja knew with confidence that his life was certainly not ending; but that it was only beginning with a new body and a new life in eternity with his loving Heavenly Father. He truly believed Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, […] neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Funeral will be held privately and in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (jdrf.org).

Please sign the guestbook at www.bakerpostfh.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Rajendra Charles Solomon, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.