Obituary For Thankachan Kinaruvilayil Mathai

Our community has lost a pillar on Saturday, April 17, 2021 when Thankachan Mathai of Wake Forest, NC passed away due to the complications of an ischemic stroke. He was born in Kerala, India on March 15th, 1960, son of Mathai Yohannan (late) and Saramma Yohannan.

He was united in matrimony to Elcy Thankachan on July 5th, 1984. This union was blessed with 3 children. He is survived by his loving wife Elcy (Jolly), Tijy (daughter), Joshua (son), Tincy (daughter).

He finished his Civil Engineering degree and worked as a civil engineer in India, Iraq, and Bahrain, and an inspector throughout the East Coast of United States, as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Washington, DC METRO.

He was a devout and caring husband and father, who enjoyed cooking and traveling. He was a loving and caring pastor to his beloved GEM Raleigh Church of God and was a crusader for the expansion of the Kingdom of God, working tirelessly to organize and host evangelical crusades, conferences and meetings, church planting, distributing Bibles and tracts, ministering in homeless shelters, prisons, hosting medical camps, and bringing many to the saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus. He was versatile in his language skills and exuded positivity and encouragement to everyone he came in contact with. At work and in business he was respected for his integrity, dedication and candor.

His life will forever be cherished in the lives of his wife Elcy, daughter Tijy, son-in-law John, son Joshua, daughter Tincy, and grand-daughter Adrielle.

The funeral service will be held at Renaisance Funeral Home, 7615 Six Forks Road, Raleigh, NC 27615 at 11 am EST. Please note that due to COVID-19 restrictions, there is a limitation for in-door gathering of 50 people. Public viewing will be available at 10 am EST at the same venue, and live-streaming will also be available here: Renaissance Funeral Home YouTube Page and also here VisionOne YouTube Page