Dr. Vinaya Kumari Yadla passed away at her home on November 18, 2022. She was 75 years old.
Dr. Yadla was born on August 10, 1947, in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to Mr. and Mrs. Devabhaktuni. The third of four children, she excelled in her schooling and advanced to earn her medical degree in 1970.
In 2013, she was predeceased by her loving husband of 42 years, Ratnagiri Rao Yadla.
Dr. Yadla and her husband married in 1971 and moved to the United States the same year. She began her residency in internal medicine at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and completed her training at Prince George’s General Hospital in Cheverly, Maryland. During this time, the couple also welcomed two daughters into the world; Kousalya in 1972 and Kavitha in 1974.
In 1977, Dr. Yadla and her family moved to Florence, the place she would call home for the next 43 years. She established a private practice and served the Shoals community for over four decades. She was passionate about her patients’ physical and mental well-being and attentive to their words and needs, and they in turn grew to deeply respect and care for her. In addition to her private practice, Dr. Yadla served as an emergency room physician at Florence Hospital and Keller Hospital, where she tended to countless patients for over four decades and was beloved by fellow medical staff and hospital administrators. After retiring from private practice, she continued to serve the medical needs of her community as a staff physician at MedPlus urgent care.
In 2020, Dr. Yadla relocated to Huntsville to be closer to her younger daughter, and, at 73, continued to serve as an urgent care physician with American Family Care through the COVID-19 pandemic until fully retiring from her medical career in 2021.
She maintained close ties to the Shoals through strong personal friendships and lasting personal impact that she had on many over the decades. As a physician, Dr. Yadla devoted her professional life to the application of science, but she held her faith and spirituality in equally high regard. She believed strongly in the power of prayer to heal. Over her lifetime, and particularly in her later years, she devoted much of her free time to a better understanding of her faith and personal philosophy through Hindu scripture. Dr. Yadla’s selflessness and service to her family, friends, and community will be deeply missed by all those she encountered throughout her exceptional life.
Dr. Yadla is survived by her elder brother, Prasad Devabhaktuni; her younger sister, Vijaya Lakshmi Bhagam; her daughters, Kousalya and Kavitha; her sons-in-law, Brian and Ravi; her grandchildren, Surya, Dev, and Raj; and a large and well-loved extended family both across the US and in India.
Berryhill Funeral Home assisted the family.
