Shanthi Samuel, MD, 83, of Winfield, Kansas, passed away Sunday evening, May 5th, 2024, at Wesley Medical Center.

Born January 19, 1941, in the city of Bangalore, South India, she was the daughter of Kamala and Ghishulal Devidas.  She completed her undergraduate and medical school degrees in India, graduating from the Christian Medical College in Vellore in 1967.  It was there that she met and fell in love with Chandy Samuel, her anatomy instructor.  She and Dr. Chandy Samuel were married on February 19th, 1968.  The newly minted physicians worked in a small remote mission hospital in South India and provided emergency, primary, and surgical care to a very underserved population before immigrating to the United States in 1971.  They moved to Syracuse, NY, to pursue training in their medical specialties, Chandy in surgery and Shanthi in pathology.

They brought their young family to Winfield in 1976 when Chandy joined a local surgery practice.  Shanthi began practicing medicine at William Newton Memorial Hospital in 1980, after completing her pathology residency at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.  She was a dedicated, patient-centered, detail-oriented pathologist for nearly 35 years and a teacher at heart, offering cancer prevention education to community members and 'show and tell' presentations to school children demonstrating the effects of smoking and chronic alcohol use on human organ specimens from her hospital laboratory.

Shanthi embodied the spirit of community service.  She loved Winfield and had a drive to enhance and promote its cultural treasures.  Gardening was one of her passions and she opened her yard to community fundraising events, church services, and hosted several weddings there.  She also valued education, providing college scholarship support to many local students to encourage them to pursue their vocational dreams.  She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Winfield as well as the Rotary Club, Soroptimists Club, and PEO.

She is survived by her loving husband, Dr. Chandy Samuel, of Winfield; her son Dr. Alex Samuel and wife, Priya, of Richmond, VA; her daughter Usha Karathanos and husband, Byron, of Belleville, IL; her sisters, Dr. Leela Badvey of India; Susheela Stephen of India; Sheela Suchak of Buffalo, NY; Usha Abraham of Philadelphia, PA and her six grandchildren, Adrien and Elias Samuel and Demetri, Isadora, Samuel, and Isaac Karathanos.

In addition to her parents, Shanthi was preceded in death by her two brothers, John and Robert Bunyan, who lived in Germany.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 10:30 A.M. at First Presbyterian Church in Winfield.  Interment will follow at Highland Cemetery.  A visitation is scheduled at Miles Funeral Service on Friday, May 10th, from 4 PM to 8 PM.  The family will greet visitors from 4 PM to 6 PM that evening.

Donations in memorial can be made to the Southwestern College Office of Institutional Advancement, 100 College Street, Winfield, KS, 67156, and/or The First Presbyterian Church of Winfield, 1101 Millington Street, Winfield, KS 67156.  Contributions to these institutions can also be made through Miles Funeral Service.

Services will be livestreamed via First Presbyterian Church Winfield's Facebook page, linked here:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553137629328