6 April 2019 12:47 am Views - 364
Passed away on Dec. 13, 1978 due to a heart attack
Retired as Acting General Manager of Bank of Ceylon
If our father were alive, he would have celebrated his 100th birthday on April 12 this year. Unfortunately, he passed away on December 13, 1978 at the age of 59 due to a heart attack.
He, along with his four siblings Reggie, Eta, Benny and Archie, was born in Burma where his father was attached to the British Army. Due to World War II, they had to be evacuated from Burma and returned to Sri Lanka encountering many difficulties on the way. They continued their university education in Sri Lanka and got married and had their respective families. The families were closely knit and as a result, we as cousins, used to have great times.
If our father were alive, his greatest happiness would have been to see his 7 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren who would have been his pride and joy
He joined the Bank of Ceylon after graduating from university and spent his entire working life in the bank, retiring as the Acting General Manager. He would avoid using the privileges granted to him. For instance, we were only allowed to use the official vehicle when he went out of Colombo on inspection. I still remember the day when it was pouring with rain and Mano had to go to the university and I had to go to work, but he refused to take us even though both were on his way to work; we had to go by bus to our respective places.
Our mother’s name was Gnaneswari but was affectionately called Podi as she was the youngest in her family. Our father and she had a happy married life of 33 years and had three children; Shanti, Mano and Rohini.
We were very lucky that they were loving and caring parents. They were always concerned over our well-being and of many others. When Mano got polio, our father managed to get a transfer to the London branch of Bank of Ceylon and took all of us there so that he could get him treated – he did not want us to be boarded in schools. Wherever he was transferred, he took the whole family with him, so we moved a lot and lived in many places in Sri Lanka.
If our father were alive, his greatest happiness would have been to see his seven grandchildren and seven great grandchildren who would have been his pride and joy.
Rohini