Chhaya Jha

Chhaya Jha, age 62, of Fort Collins, Colorado, died on June 19th, 2022 at her home.

Chhaya was born on April 30, 1960 in Bihar, India to parents Bhagwat Narayan and Nirmla Devi Choudhary. She was the eldest of 5 children and she grew up all across the Bihar region as the family moved from place to place. She was a role model to her younger sister and three younger brothers.

On May 2nd, 1977, Chhaya married Mitra Nath Jha in Darbhanga and they had their first son Abhishek in November 1980. After Mitra earned his PhD from Varanasi University in 1987 the family relocated to the United States and settled in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1990. Chhaya found a home in Fort Collins after having her second son Ashish in July 1991. From here Chhaya enjoyed her life as a homemaker dedicating her life to her two sons.

She also quickly became an important part of her local community as she made a vast variety of friends. She was also a member of the Indian Association of Northern Colorado and was a major part of the Bihari group that consisted of families from Fort Collins and Denver.

After her husband's untimely death in 2015, she showed great strength and managed to live her life independently. Life took a difficult turn for her due to her health, but she continued to fight till the end. She continued this by doing day-to-day activities such as babysitting 3 kids and catering food for the Indian community. Despite her declining health, Chhaya remained optimistic and smiled every day in life.

In her prime, Chhaya was all about her kitchen. She loved to cook and even more, she loved to feed others and make them happy. She enjoyed spending time in her garden growing vegetables and flowers and keeping her yard green. Chhaya was also very fashionable always having the latest trends in Indian clothing and always having the latest shoes, jackets, sunglasses and purse!

Children brought Chhaya joy – she was devoted to her own children and loved watching the progress of her grandchildren. She would reward them with money for reading books and completing workbooks during the summer.

Chhaya was an orthodox Hindu and her faith and religion were very important to her. She honored the traditions throughout her life by visiting several religious areas in the Northern India area.

Chhaya is survived by her two sons, Abhishek Jha and Ashish Jha; Abhishek's wife Smita Jha, and two grandchildren, Arnav and Arya Jha, as well as a large extended family in Colorado and in India.