Tirunilakuddi "Raj" K. Natarajan

Dr. Tirunilakuddi “RAJ” K. Natarajan passed on April 23, 2020 at his home in Baldwin, MD. Born on August 7, 1935 in Bombay, India, he was the 2nd oldest of 9 siblings (3 brothers and 5 sisters).

He received his Doctor of Science Degree (ScD) in 1986 from The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene & Public Health, Master’s degree (MSEE) in 1969 from The Johns Hopkins University Environmental Health Sciences, and Bachelor’s degree (BES) in 1963 from The Johns Hopkins University. He also earned a Degree in Electrical Engineering (DRE) from St. Xaviers College in Bombay, India in 1956.

Raj worked at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for 40 years in the Department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine. There he met his wife Lois (nee Arvin). In 1969 he was a pioneer along with Dr. Henry N. Wagner in the design and development of IDA (Image Display & Analysis system for Radionuclide Imaging). As an Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene he was an accomplished contributor to numerous research papers, including ones published in The New England Journal of Medicine and American Journal of Cardiology, during his tenure.

Raj will be remembered for his wonderful sense of humor, genuine kindness, forgiveness, will and determination, and most importantly, his immense love and support of his immediate and extended family. Family was important to him and he made it his priority to keep everyone together. He loved to host gatherings for holidays and special events/parties for family and friends.

He enjoyed working on projects at his home, gardening, landscaping, feeding the fish in his Koi ponds and always looked forward to the next good meal, glass of wine and ice cream for dessert!

Raj is survived by his loving wife Lois of 53 years, daughters Kristin Natarajan and Angela McCann, grandsons Brendan and Liam McCann, adopted family Judith Antisdel and Todd Neveu, sisters Radha and husband Ram, Shantha and husband Krishnan, Saroja and husband Ramanan, Nithya and husband Ramani, and many nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews and dear friends. He was preceded in death by brothers, Kittu, Dorai and Ramu and sister Jaya.

A special thanks to his home nurse, Trish and all his caring doctors and physician’s assistants at Johns Hopkins for their compassion and dedication which enabled him to live out his life in the comfort of his home.

A service and celebration of Raj’s life will be held at a future date.

Donations in his memory can be made to:

St Paul’s Lutheran School in Kingsville, Maryland. https://www.stpaulskingsville.org/donate/

Or

Concordia Preparatory School in Towson, Maryland. https://concordiaprepschool.org/development/online-giving/