Deeva Joy Sharma, 25, died on February 24, 2020, a day before her 26th birthday. Deeva was born on February 25, 1994 at Overland Park Regional Medical Center in Overland Park, Kan., the youngest child of Ram and Santosh Sharma. A lifelong Kansas resident, Deeva attended Academy Montessori Internationale in Kansas City, Leawood Elementary School, Leawood Middle School, and graduated from Blue Valley North High School in Overland Park in 2012. She was an avid reader and took her passion for literature and the written word to Baker University, graduating in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts in English language and literature/letters. Engaged and concerned with issues impacting education, Deeva furthered her studies at Boston University, graduating in 2019 with a Master of Higher Education Administration. Deeva returned to her alma mater to serve as an admissions counselor for Baker University in 2018. She had intentions to pursue higher education doctoral programs with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion.
Deeva was a bright light in all of the lives she touched. She was a caring, inquisitive, sensitive, thoughtful, and tenacious soul with a great sense of humor. She took great pleasure in bringing her family together and in helping others. Deeva loved dogs, and was a caretaker of many, including her beloved Buddy.
Deeply affected by those often marginalized, she was a fierce feminist and advocate for more diverse representation in media, literature, art, and politics. She also sought to increase and impact mental health awareness.
She is adored and remembered for her joyous and welcoming spirit. Deeva was taken from this world much too soon and will be sorely missed.
Deeva Sharma is survived by her parents, Ram and Santosh; sister and brother-in-law, Neha and Samir Doshi; nephews Brij and Dhruv Doshi; and a village of extended family and friends to whom she was a sister, daughter, masi, bua, aunt, and precious friend.
Services will be held today, February 26, at 8 p.m. at Porter Funeral Homes and Crematory, 8535 Monrovia, Lenexa, Kansas 66215. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Deeva's memory to Wayside Waifs (www.waysidewaifs.org), 3901 Martha Truman Road, Kansas City, Missouri 64137, (816) 761-8151.