Nalin D. Patel, 62, dental surgeon

Dr. Nalin D. Patel, 62, of Newtown, Bucks County, a dentist with offices in Langhorne and Fairless Hills, died Monday, Oct. 8, of a blood infection at St. Mary Medical Center.

Dr. Patel opened his first office in 1992, buying the practice now known as Fairless Hills Dental Center, his niece Rupal Patel said.

He established a chain of offices in 2005 known as Advanced Dental Care, based in Fairless Hills.

And in 2007, his niece said, he opened Oxford Valley Dental Excellence in Langhorne.

All three entities are still in business.

Dr. Patel broadened his interests in 2011, opening Shri India Travel in Langhorne, which his niece said is a travel agency open to all but "designed more for religious trips" to India.

In 2000, Dr. Patel and his family founded the Patel Cares Organization, whose website states that it sponsors food and clothing drives and offers "free dental services to local families in need."

The organization's annual Candy Buyback Program in 2011 donated more than 1,000 pounds of sweets to troops overseas, the website states.

Born in Fiji, Dr. Patel earned his dental degree in 1974 at the University of Bombay in what is now Mumbai, India.

Dr. Patel had won two scholarships in Fiji, one to study medicine in Australia, but he chose to study dentistry in India, his niece said.

He spent his residency in oral surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in London and returned to Fiji in 1976 to practice dentistry there.

After moving to Philadelphia in 1988, he earned his U.S. dental degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1990.

Dr. Patel is survived by his wife, Kalpana; sons Arpan and Anuj; a daughter, Ekta Amin; and two grandchildren.

The funeral was set for 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, at Goldsteins' Rosenberg's Raphael-Sacks, 310 Second St. Pike, Southampton.