Mysuru: Karthamada T. Cariappa (83), a resident of Kingsdale Apartment in Siddarthanagar, passed away at a private hospital here yesterday.

Cariappa, who worked as an aeronautical engineer in the US for 44 years, settled down in Mysuru along with his German wife Ursula after retirement in 2005. Ursula passed away in 2007.

Office-bearers of Kodava Samaja, Mysuru; Deenabandhu Charitable Trust, Mysuru; relatives and well-wishers visited the hospital and paid their last respects to Cariappa. His body was donated to JSS Hospital later in the evening.

Jumbo tribute for his wife

K.T. Cariappa had adopted an elephant named ‘Abhimanyu’ at Mysore Zoo as a tribute to his late German wife Ursula Cariappa, by paying Rs 1.20 lakh as adoption fee, as she was very fond of elephants. He had preserved the three boxes of elephant pictures which she collected. The couple visited Nagarahole often and enjoyed elephant safaris.

He was the first person to adopt an elephant since the adoption scheme was launched in the Mysore Zoo.

Till his last breadth, he kept alive the memory of his beloved wife through charity. Since 2009, Cariappa had been distributing clothes to mahouts of the Dasara elephants and study material to their children apart from other requirements.

A philanthropist, Cariappa generously donated  to various  organisations like Deenabandhu Charitable Trust, Mysuru, which reaches out to the very poor people of Kodagu and lend a helping hand at educating their children; Kodava Samaja Mysuru; Kodagu Model School in Sathagalli; Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama in Ponnampet, apart from helping in cash and kind a poor family of three blind children in Periyapatna for the past five years after being moved by a report published in Star of Mysore.