“To live is to give”

Died: Rusy Motabhoy Shroff, 100, permanent managing director of Ruttonjee Estates Continuation Limited (RECL) and a well-known philanthropist whose munificent charities extended to social and medical causes as also community institutions; on November 23, 2017 in Hong Kong.
"In lieu of flowers, please make donations to The Hong Kong Tuberculosis, Chest and Heart Diseases Association (THKTCHDA) or a charity of your choice,” read the obituary announcement in the South China Morning Post announcing that Shroff’s funeral will take place at the Parsee Cemetery on November 25. He was a long-standing vice president of THKTCHDA that manages the 600-bed Ruttonjee Hospital in Hong Kong that grew from the Ruttonjee Sanatorium founded by his father-in-law Jehangir Ruttonjee.
"We feel strongly that since we have been fortunate to prosper in Hong Kong, it is our duty to give back to those less fortunate in society,” Shroff had shared his philosophy and career milestones with Parsiana on the occasion of his 100th birthday ("Beyond business and bounties,” Parsiana, July 21, 2017). Among the other causes that he supported were in aid of cancer relief, his first wife Freni having succumbed to this disease within seven years of their marriage. He also assisted institutions working for the visually impaired since he could empathize with the blind, having lost his own vision towards the end of his life.
For the last 25 years, Rusy and his wife Purviz had been committed to the work of Mother’s Choice, a shelter for children of unwed mothers. Their association with this organization commenced soon after their 36-year-old son Zarir lost his life in a car accident in the Alps in Leysin. As noted a tribute from Mother’s Choice, "Rusy was known for his philanthropic spirit, his astute business sense, and his gentle soul… Rusy was incredibly supportive of his wife who volunteered at our Child Care Home every weekday, looking after over 2,000 babies or ‘little pumpkins’ as she and Rusy affectionately nicknamed them.”

Rusy Shroff (top); above: Ruttonjee Centre in Hong Kong Photo: Jasmine D. Driver

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Among our most loyal subscribers and supporters, we were particularly heartened to hear that when his office received different magazines, as per his standing instructions, the first magazine whose contents he wanted read out to him was Parsiana!
Shroff had imbibed his business ethics and values from his guardian and mentor Ruttonjee who had raised him and his siblings Minnie and Beji following the untimely demise of their father at sea. Ruttonjee was the founder of H. K. Brewery and Distillery Limited where Rusy started his career at the age of 17, working in the warehouse and growing with the company until the wine business was closed down in 1988, a year after it celebrated its centenary. Thereafter he continued to focus on the real estate business under the banner of RECL. The international honors conferred on Rusy included Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman for non-resident Indians and the Bronze Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
"My cousin, my friend, my mentor Rusy Shroff, a man of many facets. What did I admire most in him? Perhaps it was his passion for life itself,” summed up Jal Shroff, former president of the Zoroastrian Charity Funds of Hongkong, Canton and Macao (ZCFHKCM) when requested by Parsiana to share his reminiscences. Referring to him as "someone very special, always in my memory!” Jal further appreciated, "He had more than his share of tragedies and physical challenges, yet never complained or lost his capacity to smile, laugh, nor stopped to inspire young and old with his warmth and kindness. He lived his life with grace and dignity.
"His pleasures in life included horse racing, not for monetary gain, but the thrill of winning, only to give it all away for a deserving cause. All who approached him for assistance never left empty handed. His warm heart, generosity and philanthropic nature knew no bounds.
"He was at his happiest when he was close to his wife Purviz and in the company of his family. What do I miss, now that he is no more? I will always remember his ability to command instant respect and light up the room with his distinct smile as he made a quick-witted, intelligent response to a question.”
The current ZCFHKCM president Neville Shroff commented, "He reached many milestones in his life and his enormous success was based on honesty, integrity and an acute sense of perception and vision. All that he achieved in his life is an inspiration to us all.”
To Neville, "Rusy Uncle was the most remarkably wonderful, kind-hearted man. He believed strongly in family values and maintained this tradition in our Shroff family. I recollect that even when we were very young he would take the time to talk to me with the utmost respect, and then recall, months and years later, of our conversations. He had the most incredible memory and would reminisce of incidents from my childhood much later on.”
Rusy continued to attend charity functions/dinners even when he was in his early nineties but when unable to do so in the last few years he would call Neville to remind him, "You know where you are going tonight, and you must take care and look after Purviz Aunty and make sure she does not stay out too late.”
In their prime, Rusy and Purviz "would take us on family outings, and our children on fun day trips to the Jockey Club to visit the horse stables” where the children were encouraged to feed and pet the horses, to impress upon them the responsibility of looking after mounts, appreciated Neville.
Enjoying Rusy’s humor, innocent mischief and teasing, Neville recalled a Shroff family trip to Macao when a table napkin was thrown across a long table and landed on an elderly aunt. Unable to determine which child had played the prank, it was only later when they recognized "a twinkle in his eye and smile on his face that they knew it was Rusy Uncle.” Neville’s wife Farida too would be at the receiving end of his pranks, and on one occasion he called her to say Neville was desperately trying to reach her. Several phone calls later, he had a simple explanation for a befuddled Farida: "My dear, do you not realize that today is April Fool’s Day?”
An avid cricket fan, his ability to complete a century or 100 years of an eventful life was "only due to his amazingly positive mindset and attitude towards life,” observed Neville. In fact when Parsiana was deliberating on whether to prepone our article on him or time it with his birthday, he reassured us two months prior: "Your idea of carrying the article in your July 21 issue is a good one.”
An embodiment of charity, to his family and friends, Rusy always sought to reiterate: "To live is to give.”
The gracious benefactor is survived by his wife Purviz.