VAGHELA, Kantilal Bhagwanjibhai -Aged 83 years old, has passed away on February 27, 2021. Kantilal passed away in Markham, Ontario from cardiac arrhythmia.
He is survived by his wife, Labhubhen Vaghela, and his 4 children, Pratish Vaghela, Raja Vaghela, Nitesh Vaghela, Varsha Rathod.
He was born on June 10th 1937 in Jamnagar, in the state of Gujarat to Prabhaben & Bhagwanjibhai Vaghela. He moved to East Africa when he was 2 years old, and grew up in both Zanzibar and Tanzania in Africa.
Later after his marriage on November 19th 1961 to Labhubhen Vaghela, he moved to Nairobi where he became an accountant and tax auditor with his own offices.
In 1969 he moved to Canada, where he went into business and later opened Milans, an Indian department store located on Gerrard Street in Toronto, which he ran for 30 years. Milans grew from 1,000 to 16,000 square feet, and became the largest and most widely known Indian department store across North America.
Although he was living in Canada, his heart was always in India and this inspired him to do charity work for the betterment of Jamnagar, his birthplace. So, in the mid 1980s, he decided to open the Kantilal Bhagwanjibhai Vaghela Charitable Trust where he helped thousands of people gain access to food, medicine, opportunities for entrepreneurship, and education. He had a very strong emphasis on education because in his heart, he firmly believed that through education, he would be able to empower any underprivileged individuals in the community, to escape poverty and achieve a better quality of life.
After many successful years of operating the Milans, he later moved into real estate and development, and was retired when he passed away.
His funeral service will be held on Thursday March 4th 2021. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the family will not be hosting any reception or memorial.
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