George
Victor Bethala
Retired
Human Relations Representative, 77
Mr.
George Victor Bethala, resident of
Elkins Park
,
Pennsylvania
and retired Administrative Officer of Human Relations Commission of the
Commonwealth
of
Pennsylvania
, was unexpectedly called to the Lord on
Wednesday, May 3rd 2006
. He would have been 78 on
June 30, 2006
.
Mr.
Bethala was born on
June 30, 1928
in
Balusumudi
,
India
. He was the third of eight sons of Mr. and Mrs. Solomon and Mariamma Bethala.
He was very close to his father and was entrusted by him to take care of the
Bethala family, �and walk in his shoes� should anything happen to him.
Mr. Bethala lost his father at the age of 27 and had five young brothers
to take care of, so he took on the task of carrying out his father�s
responsibilities from a very young age till the end of his life. While others
his age plan for their own lives, Mr. George Bethala, had different plans which
were not for himself but for the prosperity and education of his family. Mr.
George Bethala was a highly motivated person who had a strong passion for
religion, education, and �helping� others. He was very determined to achieve
his ambitious goals with his strong faith in the Lord every step of the way.
He
worked hard to educate himself and received first of many degrees, Intermediate
Degree from
Bhimavaram
College
. He then received a Bachelor of Science with high honors in Chemistry from
Andhra
University
. After finishing his Bachelors degree, he worked as a Science teacher in
United
Lutheran
Church
Mission
High School
in Narsapur District, Andhra Pradesh. Later, he worked as a Math and Science
teacher at the
United
Lutheran
Church
and
Missionary
School
in Bhimavaram.
In
May 1952, Mr. Bethala moved to
Hyderabad
and worked as a Math teacher for three years at the
Stanley
Girls
High School
. He then taught at the
Wesley
Boys
School
for ten years. While working at Wesley, he earned his Bachelor of Law degree
from the
College
of
Osmania
. Later, he obtained his diploma in Administration and his Master of Arts degree
from
Osmania
University
. After finishing his Masters degree, he worked as a lecturer in Public
Administration. During this time, he completed his Master of Law degree.
He
was married to Vinolia J. N. Pidakala on
June 15, 1961
at Wesley church in
Hyderabad
. He was blessed with three daughters, Mary Gracelata, Mary Swarnalata, and Mary
Angelene Snehalata. In order to further achieve his goals, and to have the best
life for his daughters he provide them with a higher level of education, Mr.
Bethala made many sacrifices to provide the best for his family and his
brothers. He left his small children and wife in the care of his in-laws Mr. and
Mrs. P.C. Caleb and immigrated to the
United States
on
December 30, 1969
so that he can prepare for his family�s successful future. He was reunited in
America
with his entire family in October 1974. In the
United States
, he continued his education and graduated with Summa Cum Laude honors with a
Masters degree in Public Administration and Political Science from
Temple
University
. After finishing his degree, he started a dedicated and successful career as a
Representative at Human Relations Commission of the
Commonwealth
of
Pennsylvania
and served a dedicated twenty one years of tenure until his voluntary
retirement in
August 30, 1996
.
Mr.
Bethala had one constant goal that remained throughout his life and that is to
be with his family and be near them at an arm�s length and he strived to
accomplish it through his methodical planning and follow up of many phone calls
and letters. Amazingly enough, he did this twice in his life and that too in the
United States
. The first home he purchased was in 1976. The home was located on
12th Street
in
North Philadelphia
which was next to his younger brother, Mr. Henry Valet. In a short period of
time, through his direction and communication with his family, the rest of his
brothers, also purchased their homes that were across and behind Mr. Bethala�s
homes. Pretty soon, all the friends started to call the
12th Street
, �The Bethala Street.� After his brothers moved to
Melrose Park
, in 1989, Mr. Bethala, moved to his current home to be close to his brothers.
Ever since his grandchildren were born, he never wanted to be away from them
even one second and he prayed to be with them till his last days. Even though
his daughters lived a short distance away, he prayed to have his grandchildren
live close together and attend the same schools so that his strong family unity
will continue on to the next generation. God answered Mr. Bethala�s ceaseless
prayers and provided homes for his two daughters on the same street and the
third very close by. If anyone talked to him or visited him, he would proudly
show them all his family�s houses or would tell them about it and jokingly
would say, �This is The Bethala Park.� On the last evening of his life, Mr.
Bethala beamed with heart full of pride and joy that his wish was fulfilled and
celebrated it completely because his dream was fulfilled.
Mr.
George Victor Bethala and his life can only be equated with the words
�selfless and helping nature.� He played a strong fatherly role not only to
his own children but to many others living in every continent in this world. He
not only took care of his own family but always made time to help others and
loved doing this to the utmost. Mr. Bethala was a beloved member of his family
and the community and was considered the patriarch of his extended family. He
was a �self-sacrificing� man who met people from all walks of life and never
hesitated to reach out his hand to help. His legacy of helping people started in
India
and continued with him in all paths of his life�s journey. He supported many
people, and helped them climb to higher levels of knowledge, wisdom, and
understanding. He left a strong memory in the hearts of each person he met in
his life.
Service
and dedication to the Church was the center of Mr. Bethala�s life.
He dedicated many hours of his busy life to support and revive
Muhlenberg
Lutheran
Church
in
Logan
from 1974 until the church doors closed in 1990. The same commitment followed
at
Saint Paul
�s
Evangelical
Lutheran
Church
, in Olney, and served as a Council member and a member of the Evangelical
Committee. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Lutheran Children and
Family Services (LCFS) and a member of Gideon International. Mr. Bethala enjoyed
participating in church activities and was involved in calling and visiting the
sick, the underprivileged, and helping many people. One of his accomplishments
that was significant was that he started the project of building the Lutheran
Church of Hyderabad, India, in 1963 with 10 families, and today the church has a
congregation of more than 10,000 families.
Since
his retirement in 1996, Mr. Bethala devoted more time to God in prayer, donated
to charities and churches to fulfill his promise to God for blessings provided
to him. He continued to help people,
visit places, and most importantly, spent numerous hours and days playing with
his grandchildren. He always made them a priority and looked forward to seeing
them everyday. His favorite time of the day was at
4 PM
when all of the grandchildren would come to his home and spend time with him in
his room. He was proud to tell everyone of the joy that they bring to him at
this time each day. He often would tell that as long as his precious
grandchildren are with him, he wouldn�t need food and water because they
quench his hunger and thirst.
In
his final days, Mr. George Victor Bethala was very relaxed and spent time
praying to God and enjoyed doing his activities and hobbies which included
reading newspaper, lots and lots of medical journals and articles, watching news
and Indian programs, walking, joking with his wife and family, calling many
people on the phone and talking to them, and most importantly, spending time
with his wife, daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren. The family was able to
see the fun side of Mr. George Victor Bethala which he kept hidden so that his
focus on accomplishing his goals would not be deviated.
The
day before he left this world, he had a very happy day and evening filled of
joy. There was a prayer meeting at his daughter�s new home on the evening of
May 2nd 2006
. As he always liked to do, he led the prayer that consisted of all his favorite
hymns, bible verses, and the last message he gave to the family was to be close
to God, pray, and put trust in God so that God�s plan can be fulfilled in our
lives. He was so happy that evening as his final wish was fulfilled.
On
May 3rd 2006
, Mr. George Victor Bethala�s final hours were spent as follows. He woke up at
9 AM
and took a phone call from his friend in
India
. Afterwards, he and his wife spent time together in prayer and then he came to
the kitchen and drank his favorite, a fresh hot cup of coffee, and stared out at
his backyard which he loved. He then went up to his room, read his paper and was
ready to eat breakfast. During this time, his wife was with him. At
approximately 11:05 AM, for approximately 5 minutes, his wife went downstairs
and quickly came upstairs, at which time she found him with his head
slouched on the chair. She tried to talk to him and upon noticing that he
was not speaking, she touched him and found him to be full of sweat. Mr. George
Victor Bethala�s eldest daughter, who is a doctor, immediately came up to see
him. He held her hand and gazed at her eyes in a helpless and sad way to help
him to live. She administered CPR and proceeded to call the ambulance. They
provided medical treatment and put him in a stretcher to take him to the
hospital. While he was being wheeled out of his room, his youngest son-in-law
saw him at which time he blinked at him 2-3 times acknowledging that he is still
alive. He was taken to
Elkins
Park
Hospital
where he rested in the Lord at
12:20 PM
.
Mr.
George Victor Bethala is survived by his wife of 44 years, Vinolia, his three
daughters, Dr. Mary Gracelata, Mary Swarnalata, and Mary Angelene Snehalata, his
three sons-in-law, Dr. Prem K. Marlapudi, Bashat Sithya, Srinivasan Pinninti,
his precious grandchildren whom he adored, Beulah, Aaron, Sophia, Selina, Joel
and Jonathan, his three brothers, Henry Valet, Dr. Benjamin Franklin, Mark
Melanchton, and his extended family, relatives and friends. His three daughters
and sons in law, his grandchildren, his brothers and their families, friends,
and most of all, his wife, Mrs. George Victor, shall deeply miss Mr. George
Victor Bethala. He will be remembered in the hearts of all of those, from the
rising of the sun until its setting as there will be no other like him that we
can meet in this lifetime. He certainly was a �unique� person and a man who
had high principles, extensive knowledge, and most importantly, �The fear of
God.� He always put God first and then all the rest after. Mr. George V.
Bethala left an example to all of us whom he left behind. Some day, we will meet
again at the right hand of God.
The
viewing will be held on Saturday, May 6th at the Baron Rowland
Funeral Home,
1059 Old York Rd.
, Abington from
6-8 p.m.
The Viewing is at
10 AM
and the funeral service will be said at
11 a.m.
on Monday, May 8th at
St. Paul
�s
Evangelical
Lutheran
Church
,
5900 N. 5th Ave.
,
Philadelphia
. Burial will be in
West
Laurel
Hill
Cemetery
, at Bala Cynwd.
