Tejinder Sibia, 70, dies; documented Sikhs' history in California

Tejinder Singh "Ted" Sibia was an outstretched hand for the body of Asian Indian residents in Northern California, and the comforting arm around Punjabi students at the University of California, Davis, where he headed a library.

Friends and colleagues remembered Mr. Sibia this way Saturday night, the eve of his funeral and cremation.

Mr. Sibia devoted himself to sharing the struggles and successes of the Punjabi and Sikh immigrant story and promoting their integration, close associates said.

Mr. Sibia died Thursday of leukemia at his home in Sacramento. He was 70.

He became an unofficial archivist of the Asian Indian pioneers in California, filling in the blanks of their little-known history with a collection of rare historic photographs and documents compiled on a Web site, www.sikhpioneers.org

His early 20th century photos show turbaned Sikhs working the fields in Yuba and Sutter counties, building the Western Pacific Railroad near Quincy and gathered at newly opened temple in Stockton in 1915.

"We are a very misunderstood community in many ways," said Dr. Jasbir Kang, a physician in Yuba City. "A lot of people don't know that Sikhs are Asian Indians who have been here over 100 years."

To share that story, Kang and Mr. Sibia designed an exhibit on the history and contributions of Punjabi Americans to California, for a newly built wing at the Sutter County Museum. The exhibit is scheduled to open later this year.

Sikhs were denied U.S. citizenship, property and the right to marry outside their race until 1946, Kang said.

Born in the village of Kila Raipur, in the Ludhiana District of the Punjab state of India, Mr. Sibia migrated to United States in 1960.

He harvested peaches in the Yuba City-Marysville area, saving for college and earning master's degrees in horticulture at Kansas State University and library science at Emporia State University in Kansas.

Mr. Sibia headed UCD's Shield Library research unit for biology and agriculture until his retirement in 2006.

Behind his librarian duties, he became a mentor for Punjabi students and an ambassador of Punjabi culture, presenting his photo collection and samplings of native dishes at campus forums.

"He wanted people to know who they were, what they were about," said Carrie Rushby, his library assistant for 12 years.

Mr. Sibia also helped promote the inclusion of Punjabi history in California textbooks and the teaching of Punjabi language, successfully lobbying UCD officials to add it to the curriculum, said Onkar S. Bindra, a UC Berkeley graduate and former professor of entomology at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab India.

"For a lot of people, including myself, he was a liaison for non-Punjabis interested in our community and history."

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