Madasamy Subbiah Thirumalai

Dr. M.S. Thirumalai, age 85, passed away peacefully at his daughter's home in Savage, MN, on June 18, 2025. Thirumalai was a lifelong scholar and beloved husband, father, grandfather, professor, and friend. He was a devout Christian and will be remembered for his intellect, generosity, and unwavering commitment to education. He was born on Malayan Street in Tenkasi, India, on April 9, 1940. After graduating from IC Eswaran Pillai Board High School in 1957, he pursued higher education with a passion, studying at Hindu College, Tirunelvelli where he completed his BA in Tamil without owning a pair of shoes or pants. He then went to Annamalai University and completed his Master's in Linguistics with a first rank. He submitted his PhD thesis in Calcutta University under Professor Sukumar Sen and received his Phd in 1969. He was in Calcutta when a friend encouraged him to think about getting married. He knew he wanted a woman who was educated, and who could stand up for herself. He found exactly what he was looking for in his soon to be wife, Swarna. Upon meeting her father, they spoke deeply about education and politics - the respect was mutual. The one condition for marriage was that there would be no dowry and that Thirumalai would convert to Christianity. This began his journey as a lifelong committed Christian. Swarna and Thirumalai married in 1966 and moved to Calcutta, India where he worked as research scholar in the Calcutta Censes offices. He was selected for a scholarship to study in the University of Hawai'i in 1967. He participated in the East West Center Program at the University of Hawai'i and completed his second Master's degree in Linguistics in 1969. Thirumalai loved his time in Hawai'i - particularly the $1 KFC meal boxes of chicken and rice. Swarna joined him there in 1968. They returned to India and he started work as a Research Officer in the Central Institute of Indian Languages working on the tribal languages of the north eastern states/territories of India. They moved to Mysore, India in 1970 and remained there until he took early retirement as Professor cum Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Indian Languages in 1992. His son was born in 1967 and his daughter was born in 1970. The family lived in the Gangothri Mysore University Quarters until they built their own house in Kuvempunagara, Mysore in 1983. Swarna and Thirumalai moved to Minnesota, USA in 1991 to study and work at the Bethany College of Missions where he stayed until he retired as Dean of Academic Affairs in 2010. His scholarly contributions include numerous essays, articles, books, and the open access academic journal "Language in India" which focuses on publishing the works of South Asian scholars. Thirumalai was a lifelong learner and took classes at Hennepin Technical and Community College to learn computer programming to set up the Language in India website in 2000. A passionate advocate for education, Swarna and Thirumalai founded St. John's English Medium Higher Secondary School near Malayan street, where he grew up, in 1996. His nephews (Valli and Selvaraj) and nieces (Shanthi and Amudha) have been extremely helpful with the management of the school. It was a dream for Thirumalai to establish a school for poor children near the community where he was raised. In retirement, Thirumalai's great passions were Language in India, St. John's School, and his grandchildren. He also enjoyed traveling with his family - including returning to Hawai'i twice, numerous trips to India, visiting many national parks in the USA, a European river cruise with Swarna, and a long-awaited trip to China and Hong Kong with Swarna, his daughter, and granddaughter. He loved eating mixture, peanuts, and hamburgers (plain) and limited quantities of Tenkasi halwa. He was preceded in death by his father (T.M. Subbaiah), his mother (Valliammal), his brother and nine sisters. He is survived by his wife, Swarna, his two children: son, John Pandian (and children, daughters Ashley and Hope, and sons Joshua (Steph) and Adam ) and his daughter, Hoinu Thirumalai Bunce (Dave, and children, Selvi (Nate) and Anna). He will also be missed by many friends and family in USA, Canada, and India. He was a good friend to Jimmy, Lucky, Buddy, Lipsi and Kutti (dogs of the family). Celebration of Life service will take place at McColl Pond ELC in Savage, MN on August 10 from 10am to 2pm. In lieu of flowers, please direct any memorial contributions to Jesus India Christian Schools, 4725 W 144th St, Savage, MN 55378 (501c3).

Tributes

Madasamy Subbiah Thirumalai

April 9, 1940 - June 18, 2025

Tributes

Madasamy Subbiah Thirumalai

April 9, 1940 - June 18, 2025

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