Raphael Satyapal Amanna

Ralph (Raphael) Satyapal Amanna, son of a Methodist minister, born in 1932, passed away on October 16, 2023. He was a beloved husband, father and grandfather who is survived by his wife Urmilla (Bhatt), sons Sunil (Kristie) and Ashwin (Karen), daughter Anita (Tony), and grandchildren Kelly, Karly, Ansel, Lucas, Alaina, Mia and Ava.

Ralph grew up in a small Indian village. He worked his way to America in 1961 to be closer to the love of his life, Urmilla. Always an innovator, he was able to convince the mayor of Wichita, KS to sponsor his visa to the U.S. Ralph and Urmilla pursued graduate degrees in different states for several years before marrying in 1963. Throughout their life in the U.S., he also remained devoted to his family in India.

Ralph held a BS in Chemistry and earned an MBA from Wichita State University. He spent 27 years in various roles at IBM that included systems engineering, R&D, and sales in New York and California. His team was responsible for IBM’s Payroll software, one of the earliest spreadsheets for personal computers.

A serial entrepreneur, Ralph founded several businesses including import/export, home security, and decades before its time, home automation. While working full time at IBM, he also became a licensed real-estate agent breaking the Million Dollar Club within the first year.

After retiring from IBM, he turned his hobby for landscape and design into another company, Water Wise Classicscapes. Waterwise earned multiple awards from the California Landscaping Association.

Ralph was intelligent and hardworking, yet treated everyone like they were the most important person in the room. He wanted to learn from everyone and wasn’t afraid to take risks. Ralph instilled these values and traits into his children and grandchildren who are following in his footsteps.

Ralph and Urmilla lived in many places from upstate New York, to the Bay area of California, and retired for many years in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In their later years, they moved to Roseville, CA, then finally settled in Zionsville, Indiana at the Hoosier Village Retirement home.

Ralph was a dapper dresser and loved to travel with his beloved wife, Urmilla. He enjoyed telling jokes and was always the life of the party. He had a dynamic personality and made many friends along the way. He enjoyed painting, photography, and landscaping. In his last years at Hoosier Village, he loved spending time with his grandchildren. He was always sweet and calm and was a much beloved resident at Hickory. We thank the staff at Hoosier Village for the loving care they gave Ralph in his last years of life.