Reggie Ranatunga dies, funeral tomorrow

Reggie Ranatunga

The funeral of late Parliamentarian Reggie Ranatunga who passed away yesterday will be held at Udugampola, Gampaha on Monday at 4.00 p.m.

His body was taken to his residence on Minuwangoda Road, Udugampola last evening and will lie there for people to pay their last respects. He is the father of Sri Lanka Cricket Interim Committee president and Colombo district UPFA MP Arjuna Ranatunga and Western province minister Prasanna Ranatunga.

Mr.Ranatunga was sworn in as an MP in March after the death of Gampaha district MP Sripathy Sooriyaarachchi. UPFA member Neil Rupesinghe will succeed Mr Ranatunga. Born on April 23, 1937, Mr. Ranatunga received his education at Nalanda Vidyalaya, Minuwangoda, Ananda Shastralaya Kotte and Harischandra Vidyalaya Negombo.

He proceeded to Romania where he earned a degree in political science at the Bucharest University. He started his career as a manager in a cinema and later became a director of a corporation. He joined the SLFP in 1962 and represented the party at youth conferences in several socialist countries.

Mr. Ranatunga gave a filip to the cooperative movement by giving leadership to the Minuwangoda Textile Weavers’ Association and the Udugampola Multipurpose Cooperative Society. He was also the president of the Sri Lanka - Korea Friendship Association and a senior vice president of the Sri Lanka-China Friendship Association.