Bhakti Prasad Pokhrel, a longtime teacher of Bhutanese students, who served the Bhutanese community as a teacher for 34 years, passed away on December 27, in Grand Forks, North Dakota. He was 69.
In addition to problems related with prostrate and lungs, late Pokhrel had multi-organ complications of diabetes, especially leading to renal failure, one of his sons Padam Pokhrel informed. He died while being treated at the Altru Hospital.
He started his teaching career from a private school in Sibsoo in 1968. Completing his training at the Teacher Training Institute (TTI) from Samtse, he joined Changmari Primary School as a trained teacher in 1971.
Late Pokhrel, whose personality was well admired by his students, taught in various schools until his voluntary retirement in 1992.
In exile, he joined the Bhutanese Refugee Education Program of the Caritas Nepal and got retired in 2002 due to his old age.
Dozens of resettled Bhutanese from two cities, Grand Forks and Fargo, gathered at a local crematory center on December 29 to pay the last tributes to the departed soul.
The 13-day rituals based on Hindu culture will complete on January 9, added the family source.
Three sons, two daughters and wife survive late Pokhrel, who was resettled in ND on March 10 last year along with his family under the third country resettlement program from Beldangi-II Extension camp, Jhapa, Nepal.
Contributed by Ganesh Adhikari from ND for BNS
