Dr. Manisha Desai

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Manisha Desai, 55, of Odessa, on Sunday, September 6, 2026.

Manisha was born on February 11, 1971, in Valsad, India, to the late Mahadev and Bharti Desai, and grew up in Bombay—the city she loved all her life and returned to whenever she could. In 1998 she moved to West Texas, which is not Bombay, but she never quite left it behind, bringing as much of the color and noise with her as she could.

For nearly thirty years, Manisha practiced pediatrics in Odessa, caring for a generation of the city’s children, many of them from birth. She remembered them—their siblings, their histories, what she had told them last time—without opening a chart. She was thorough, and she was direct. Parents knew she would tell them the truth, which kept them coming back.

To know Manisha was to know her warmth and her appetite for life. She was generous and endlessly curious, quick to laugh, and quicker still to pull everyone she loved into whatever she had planned next: a trip, a dance, a card game. A gathering wasn’t quite a celebration until she walked in.

She gave her time as freely as her affection, supporting Meals on Wheels, the Education Foundation of Odessa, and the Ellen Noël Art Museum. Dance was a lifelong joy—Bharatanatyam, Diwali performances, and, memorably, a turn in Dancing with West Texas Stars, benefiting the Crisis Center of West Texas. Friends knew her, too, for her sense of style, her green thumb, and her talent for turning an ordinary evening into an occasion.

Above all, Manisha loved her family and friends fiercely, and never stopped pushing them to learn more, to reach further, and to be the people she already knew they would become. She was a devoted wife, a loving mother, a cherished sister, and a loyal friend. Her legacy lives on in the people she brought together and the extraordinary amount of love she shared.

Manisha is survived by her husband, Anand Cholia; her daughters, Rhea Cholia and Saloni Cholia; her sister Bhavini Desai and her husband, Anoosh Hazari; and her sister Neha Baxi, her husband, Surag Baxi, and their son, Aarav.

Services celebrating Manisha’s life will be held at Nalley-Pickle & Welch on Saturday, September 19, 2026, at 12:00 p.m., followed by a reception at the Ellen Noël Art Museum at 2:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, those who wish to honor Manisha may make donations to the Education Foundation of Odessa or the Crisis Center of West Texas.

Arrangements are under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home & Crematory of Midland. Online condolences may be made at www.npwelch.com.

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