AMIT HARSHADBHAI PATEL WAS BORN IN NADIAD, INDIA ON MAY 19, 1966. HE GREW UP ACROSS ZAMBIA, BAHAMAS, FLORIDA, NEW YORK, AND EVENTUALLY PUT DOWN ROOTS IN NEW JERSEY, BUT FLORIDA ALWAYS HAD A PIECE OF HIM. HE MADE IT BACK WHERE HE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE IN THE END. THAT WAS AMIT. HE ALWAYS FOUND HIS WAY TO WHERE HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE. HE PASSED AWAY ON MAY 22, 2026, THREE DAYS AFTER HIS 60TH BIRTHDAY, SURROUNDED BY THE PEOPLE WHO LOVED HIM MOST.

HE IS SURVIVED BY HIS WIFE, NITA; HIS DAUGHTERS, MEGAN, NIKITA, AND CYRA; HIS BROTHERS JAYENDRA AND HIS WIFE NITA, AND HITESH AND HIS WIFE JALPA. HE WAS LOVED BY ALL OF THEM MORE THAN WORDS CAN HOLD.

AMIT WAS THE KIND OF PERSON YOU JUST DON'T COME ACROSS VERY OFTEN. THE KIND THAT MAKES YOU FEEL, AFTER FIVE MINUTES OF KNOWING HIM, LIKE YOU'VE KNOWN HIM YOUR WHOLE LIFE.

HE OWNED HIS PHARMACY IN COLTS NECK, NEW JERSEY AND WAS A PHARMACIST FOR OVER 20 YEARS. HIS CUSTOMERS CALLED HIM DOCTOR AND DROVE OVER AN HOUR JUST TO SEE HIM. HE HAD THE BUSINESS MIND TO BUILD SOMETHING REAL AND THE ARTISTIC EYE TO MAKE IT HIS OWN, BUT NONE OF THAT IS WHY PEOPLE LOVED HIM. THEY LOVED HIM BECAUSE HE ACTUALLY CARED. HE REMEMBERED EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERYONE AND NEVER MADE YOU FEEL LIKE A TRANSACTION. HE JUST MADE YOU FEEL TAKEN CARE OF.

OFF THE CLOCK, AMIT WAS ALWAYS MOVING. TRAVELING SOMEWHERE NEW, TRYING FOOD HE HAD NEVER HEARD OF, STANDING AT THE EDGE OF THE OCEAN OR THE TOP OF A MOUNTAIN JUST TAKING IT IN. HE HAD A SIGNATURE LOOK: JEANS, A HAT, A GREAT WATCH AND HE LOVED HIS CARS. THE MAN WAS FUNNY. GENUINELY, NATURALLY, EFFORTLESSLY FUNNY. HE ALWAYS HAD A JOKE READY AND THE TIMING TO MAKE IT LAND, BUT IT NEVER FELT LIKE HE WAS TRYING, THAT WAS JUST HIM. HE COULD WALK INTO ANY ROOM AND WITHIN MINUTES HAVE EVERYONE LAUGHING. HE LOVED ANIMALS DEEPLY AND HIS DOGS WEREN'T PETS; THEY WERE HIS PEOPLE. HE LOVED SWEETS PROBABLY MORE THAN WAS REASONABLE AND NEVER FULLY APOLOGIZED FOR IT.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT AMIT, MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, IS THAT HE WAS SELFLESS IN A WAY THAT WAS ALMOST HARD TO WITNESS. HE GAVE CONSTANTLY, QUIETLY, AND NEVER ONCE KEPT SCORE. HE SHOWED UP FOR EVERYONE AROUND HIM WITHOUT HESITATION, EVEN WHEN HE WAS THE ONE WHO NEEDED SHOWING UP FOR. WHEN HE GOT SICK, HE SMILED THROUGH IT. HE CRACKED JOKES THROUGH IT. THAT NEVER STOPPED. HE HAD TO BE TALKED INTO TELLING HIS DOCTORS HOW MUCH PAIN HE WAS ACTUALLY IN BECAUSE HE DIDN'T WANT TO BE A BOTHER. THAT WAS HIM, ALL THE WAY TO THE END.

HIS MIND NEVER LEFT HIM. HIS HUMOR NEVER LEFT HIM. AND HIS LOVE — FOR NITA, FOR HIS GIRLS, FOR HIS BROTHERS, FOR EVERY PERSON LUCKY ENOUGH TO KNOW HIM NEVER LEFT HIM EITHER.

THERE IS NO CLEAN WAY TO END THIS BECAUSE THERE IS NO CLEAN WAY TO LOSE SOMEONE LIKE AMIT. HE WAS JUST ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE