Obituary of Col. Anil Kumar Vasisht

Col. Anil Kumar Vasisht (Retd) Born on November 3, 1949 in Dehradun, India Departed on July 23th, 2014 in New York, NY Resided in Stamford, CT Col. Anil Kumar Vasisht passed away on July 23, 2014 in New York after a courageous battle with leukemia. Col. Vasisht, son of the late Col. Siri Ram, grew up in Dehradun, India and at a young age followed the family military tradition by attending the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) and then the National Defense Academy (NDA). In 1969, he was commissioned as an officer in the prestigious 2/9 Gorkha Rifles, the battalion that his father had commanded. He had a long and illustrious career with the Gorkhas, eventually serving as the Commanding Officer of 1/9 Gorkha Rifles before his retirement. After his career with the Indian Army, Col. Vasisht joined the United Nations in 1995 as Deputy Chief of the Lessons Learned Unit in DPKO, before serving with the UNPREDEP Mission in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Anil was amongst the first international staff to take up duties at UNMIK in July 1999. He retired from UNMIK in March 2012. He served in a variety of positions throughout Kosovo in civil administration, including his assignment as Regional Representative for the Prizren & Peja/Peć region, and was the last Principal Officer in charge of Civil Administration under Pillar II. He is survived by his wife, Ambassador (Retd) Mitra Vasisht, his son Shiv Vasisht, his daughter Jyotsna Vasisht Bean, his daughter-in-law Vail Weymann Vasisht, his son-in-law Kevin Bean, his grandchildren Kiran Vasisht, Caden Vasisht and Leela Bean, his mother Om Kumari, his sisters Asha Gour and Usha Gour and their families and his brother-in-law S.M. Krishna Kumar and his family. Memorial services were held in Stamford, CT and in Delhi, India. Contributions in his memory can be made to Leukemia Fighters at the New York/Presbyterian Hospital, c/o Dr. Gail J. Roboz, 520 East 70th Street, Box 403, New York, NY 10021. Funeral Home: Edward Lawrence Funeral Home 2119 Post Road Darien, CT USA 06820