Young Washington Post Editor From Maplewood Dies At 35

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Maplewood native Neema Roshania Patel — a young editor tasked with bringing more women and millennial audiences to the Washington Post — died on Monday in a hospital in Washington, D.C., the Post announced this week. The cause of death was gastric cancer.

According to news stories and Patel's obituary, the young editor was born in Maplewood in September of 1987 to immigrant parents from India. She worked for her high school newspaper, then got a bachelor's degree in both journalism and economics from Rutgers University in 2009.

After working at news outlets from CNBC to WHYY in Philadelphia, she helped found the Lily, the Washington Post’s news site for millennial women. At the time of her death, she'd been part of a development team to bring a younger and more diverse readership to the stories newspaper.

According to the obituary, she's survived by husband Akshar Patel of Kensington, Md., son Abhiraj, parents Prabhu Roshania and Mira Roshania, and sister Reshma Roshania.

Information about services was not released as of Friday, but will be added when it's available.

Learn about symptoms of and treatment for gastric cancer here.