IN
MEMORIAM
They have moved on, and, we will surely follow!
"
time,
she flies with the wind,
like an eagle soaring up to the sky;
we wait and watch, never rescind
our time will surely be up, so nigh."
1. R J de Silva
2. Thusitha
Cooray (RPS Class of 1953)
3. Mahinda Jayasinghe
(RPS Class of 1953)
4. Punyasiri
Kiriella (RPS Class of 1953)
5. Wilhelm Koch (RPS Class
of 1953) - Wilhem passed away, under tragic
circumstances, in the early 80s soon after a good promotion in the
pharmaceuticals sales field - caught under the boat which capsized during a
casual boat ride during the course of his training in Brisbane, Australia
6. Mohamed Jezli
Hussain (RPS Class of 1953) - died in Sri Lanka
7. S Selliah
8. Mohamed Nizam
Jaimon - Athlete (relay) and formidable wing
three quarter at Rugby Football. Major in the Sri Lanka Army. Was
afflicted with Parkinson's disease and died in Sri Lanka
9. Rohan M Perera
- Was employed at the French Embassy in Colombo as the Press
Officer. Died in Sri Lanka. Died of Cancer in 1999. Was the inaugural
President of the '59 Group for several years during which he rallied round
the old chas to come together and initiate the
coveted Library Project for the school which is still on-going successfully.
10. R S Ramlal
Gunewardene (RPS Class of 1953) - Athlete and
Rugby Football player. Was attached to the Sri Lanka CID and assigned to
the Human Rights Commission on Bosnia-Hercegovina at the Hague. Died in
Switzerland in 1999 after a bout of
Malarial fever on his return to
his work station from Sri Lanka after a short holiday at Yala.
11. Radhan
Rajaratnam - Passed away in 1999 having
suffered poisoning.
12. D Mahinda Jayasinghe - Passed away in 1999 after a bout of
Cirrhosis of the Liver
13. Naween
Rajapakse (RPS Class of 1953) - Passed away in
December 2000.
Naveen (Kunni,
affectionately to all of us) was a most friendly ,
relaxed guy. Fne baila
singer with a long list of them which had got indelibly committed to a clear
memory. He and Panna Gooneratne would stand
at a piano or with a band and go on for hours. Naveen, who was trained in
accountancy at Cecil Arsecularatne & Company,
and qualified as a Chartered Acountant, started his
working life as Finance Manager at Pegassus Reef
hotel. He quickly matured into hotel directorships with Mercantile
Investments, and was responsible for the building and running of its many
hotels. He was working on the sixth one when he was sadly
grabbed from us. The first and most well-known hotel of his, at which he
arranged for his batchmates of the 59 group to meet
for a weekend in mid 1998, was Tangerine in Kalutara.
Naveen was a very vocal figure at
the Roy-Thos of the sixties. Indefatigably on
his feet with a blue & gold wrapped round his meagre frame.
Cheering and generally batting until he was hoarse and dumb. But next
day, he was fresh as a daisy for day two. A glutton for delightful
punishment if ever there was one. After lectures at the accountancy
institute, he would waste no time in getting home, and completing what
study-related tasks he had. One day I delayed him by tempting him for a
cup of tea at the cafe there. He wasn't a
happy boy: "fanatic, maniac,.." were some of the words I
copped.
My wife and I were on the second
day of our honeymoon at Pegasus Reef. The phone rings - too early in the a.m. ! Kawda?
Kunni. We are invited to the executive suite for brekkie. And I was surprised
as I hadn't known Kunni was there, let alone having
informed him. He had spied the old name from the daily
guest list and taken the initiative. A few nights later he was at the
Home Coming and never left the side of the pianist until the wee hours.
His great love in recent years was
tutoring his daughter in the same line as he followed -
accounts. His dear wife Ayanthi
and the girl live down Frankfurt Place, Wellawatte, where another very fond
and active 59ner lives - Nihal Canagasabey,
with wife Therese and their two boys. Skandakumar
has also moved into the same street in recent times.
Very sadly surgical misadventure
during a silly bile duct operation left him bleeding and thus caused the loss
of an enormously promising and productive life. It was not cirrhosis as
many surmised because Naveen was given to having a good time at gatherings,
and that with or without the stuff that cheers.
14. Aubrey Norman Willis -
(RPS Class of '53) Was with the Class of 1953-58 at RPS. Passed away in UK on
May 7 2002. Obituary appeared in Sunday Observer of May 19 2002 as follows:-
Obit:
WILLIS AUBREY NORMAN
Dearly beloved husband of Joyce (UK), much loved father of Sharon and
Mervyn (UK), loving son of late Sydney and Iris Willis, caring brother of
late Tyrone and of Darrel, June, Russel, Orvyl,
Arlene and Tyrell (All of UK), passed away in London on 7th May, 2002.
Funeral will take place on Tuesday 21st May at Beckenhan
Cemetery, South London. 3A, Sherborne Road, Sutton,
London, SM 3 9QA (London papers please copy).
15. CJL Wijeratne
16. HASSW Bamunawela:
2002, Passed away in Sri Lanka after a long illness caused by a brain tumor.
17. Iqbal Najumudeen
(RPS Class of 1953) – 2004 Passed away in Sri Lanka
18. Jeeva
Satchithananthan - 2005, Passed away after a
long illness
19. P Chandrakanthan.
2005, Passed away in Canada
20. Sarath
Ambepitiya - 2005, Assasinated
by gangsters in Colombo when dealing with a massive drugs case as Justice
21. Rama Sellamuttu
(RPS Class of 1953) - 2008. Passed away in Sydney Australia - June 2008 after
a prolonged illness for almost 10 years.
22. Priyanath
Dias – 2009 Dec – Passed away in his sleep at his home in Panadura after having enjoyed a great hopper dinner with
his family the previous night.
23. S L Gunasekera
– Jan 14 2010 – Passed away in Colombo, Sri Lanka
24. Sunil Abeysundera
– Apr 12 2010 – Passed away in the UK
From: sue
To: 4s7cf@sltnet.lk
Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2010
12:34 AM
Subject: Demise of Bill
I wish to inform you with a sense
of sadness of the demise of my husband Dr. Bill Benson [Sunil Abeysundera]. He passed away recently(
12 th April) and was cremated at a private
ceremony according to his wishes.
Prior to his passing he provided
me with a list of those he wished me to inform via email.
If you know of any others who may
wish to know of Bill's passing please inform them.
Some of you may have known him as
"NibiruET" on the Internet forums he
participated in. If so kindly notify the membership, particularly the
"PCLOS Backroom Forum" members.
Sincerely
Sue Benson
25. Robert Shanthikumar
Daniel – Sep 7 2010 – Passed away in Melbourne, Australia
obit:
Obit:
DANIEL - ROBERT SHANTIKUMAR Passed away peacefully on Tuesday
Seventh September 2010 surrounded by his loving family in Melbourne,
Australia. Beloved husband of Beatrice Ranji Daniel,
cherished and adored father of Sharon and Anne, father-in-law to Wilhelm and
Richard and loving grandfather to Michael, Kayne and Ave. Viewing Service
will be held on Thursday 9th September, 7.00 p.m. at John Allison Monk House,
Melbourne, Australia. Funeral Service will be held on Friday 10th September,
2.00 p.m. at All Saints Anglican Church, Melbourne Australia. Telephone:
0061-3-88027765.
26. Alvapillai
Senthilkumaran (RPS Class of 1953) – Jan 10
2011, Sydney
27. Ananda Dias Amarawardena – Nov 4 2011, Sri Lanka
Obit:
AMARAWARDENA - ANANDA DIAS Beloved husband of Roshi (nee Henricus), loving
father of Sampath & Vasana,
father-in-law of Gihani & Anuruddha,
grandfather of Amandhi & Asel,
son of late Lieut. Colonel Dr D.D. Amarawardena & late Mrs
Soma Amarawardena, brother of Vinitha
Gammanpila & Chandana,
brother-in-law of Hemasiri, Sarojini,
Nelu, Rita, late Anton & late Philip, expired
on 04-11-2011 in Kuwait. Cremation on 13th November at General Cemetery, Mahiyawa, Kandy (3.30 p.m.) 161, Dutugemunu
Mw, Watapuluwa, Kandy. Sampath
- 0777433470. http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/11/12/main_Obituaries.asp
28. Prasantha
Dias Abeygunawardena - Jan 24 2012
Obit: DIAS
ABEYGUNAWARDENE, PRASANTHA NIMAL (ex Deputy Director
SACEP) - Loving son of late Norman & Daisee
Dias Abeygunawardene, precious son-in-law of late
Ernest & Ruby Muthuvaloe, beloved husband of Subashini, darling father of Sulakshana,
brother of Dushyantha (Dinko),
brother-in-law of Mano, Emmanuel & Jo, Kamalini
& Freddie, grandfather of Aevahn, Ayrron & Syesha &
father-in-law of Elmo Anthony. Cortege leaves residence No. 09,
International Buddhist Centre (IBC) Road, Colombo 6 at 4.30 p.m. on
Thursday 26th January for Burial at Kanatte Borella (Roman Catholic Section).
023680
29. ATHULA SENANAYAKE, Dec
11 2013, Himagama, Sri Lanka. Funeral Sat Dec 14
2013
30. K P G FERNANDO, July 23
2014, Sri Lanka. Funeral Sat July 26 2014 at Malabe
Obit:
FERNANDO - K.P.G. (retired DFCC Bank). Husband of Lakshmi
Fernando nee Edirisinghe, father of Dr. Damayanthie (Barberyn Ayurveda
Resort), Chamath (Attorney-at-law), expired.
Cortege leaves residence No. 520/1, Susilarama
Road, Malabe,on Saturday 26th July at 4 p.m. for
cremation at Thalahena Cemetery at 5 p.m. - Daily
News July 25 2014
31. S W Athukorale,
Dec 9 2014
32. Bandu
Kulathunga, Mar 12 2015 in Australia [reported
by Jeremy Perera]
33. Sydney K Goonesekere, Sep 28 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka
34. Gamini
de Silva (KETTY), Oct 12 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka
35. H P Kariyawasam
(KARI), Mar 16, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka
36. Suren Chitty, Jan 6
2017
37. Asoka Waranasuriya,
May 21, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka
38. L Lathpandura,
Passed away in USA in 2015. Information only received now
39. Ranjan
Madanayake, Passed away in Colombo on Dec 30,
2017
40. Mahadeva
Balakumaran, Passed away in London June 2, 2019
41. Vishwa
Vedage, Passed away in London, June 4, 2019
42. Ananda Mallikarachchi,
Passed away in Kalutara, Sri Lanka on Dec 4, 2019
43. Nihal
Abeyasena, Passed away in Colombo, Sri Lanka on
Jan 23, 2020
44. D E R Hapuarachchi
(Hapu) – Passed away on Dec 9, 2020 in Colombo
45. Shirzad
T Aziez (Susu) –
Passed away on Mar 24, 2021 in Colombo
46. Russell Geddes – Jan 18
2022 Australia
47. S Rathnathicam
– Feb 4 2022 California, USA
48. M Ranjan
Perera – Feb 7 2022 Colombo, Sri Lanka
49. NM (Nandadeva Mahinda) Fernando – July
14, 2022, Colombo, Sri Lanka
50.
GEC Jebanesan (Jebba) – Aug 23
2022, Australia
51.
Tuan Arif Kitchil – Jan 17
2023, Colombo, Sri Lanka
52.
Mazher FazleAli – Jan 21
2023, Colombo, Sri Lanka
53.
Tissa Jayaweera – May 9
2023, Colombo, Sri Lanka
54.
Geethapriya Salgado – May 14
2023, Colombo, Sri Lanka
55.
William Solomons – 2023, Australia
56. R Srikantha – date of
and place of demise unknown
57. MBM Naizer - Nuwara
Eliya, Tue Dec 26 2023
58. Dr
M Satchithananthan - London,
Fri Feb 16 2024