Ilex the Navy rugby stalwart no more
Born to a respected ancestral family in the small village of Dehiyagatha in Ja-Ela, Ilex Perera was the youngest in the family who was educated at St. Anne’s College, Wattala. Later he moved to Christ the King College in Tudella, representing his alma maters in football. Perera developed a love for the odd-shaped ball by chance and took up rugby much later in life. Interestingly representing the Sri Lanka Navy in the mid 1970s where he learnt the rudiments of the trend William Webb Ellis introduced.
He contributed to what was known as the golden years of Navy rugby, under the leadership of Irshad Bin Ali with Omar Sheriff, P.L.B. Nandasiri, Brian Van Heer, Ramanayake, Tom Halideen, Bin Ghalip and boxer Somapala Perera. The Sailors were coached by Percy ‘Penalty’ Perera in 1975 they claimed the Division B title in style. The following year, in 1976, the star hooker Ilex Perera captained the Navy team and together with standoff Nazeer, fullback Bin Galiph, T.M.F. Sherifdeen, P.A. Rodrigo, J.L. Waidyaratne, P.W. Perera, Nandasiri led the Sailors to their historic first ever Division A Clifford Cup final. On the way they created a tournament upset by defeating CH&FC in the semi-final to face giants Havelocks SC. However, Havies won the title by 15-3 under Thajone Savanghan with the experienced likes of Anton Benedict, Lanil Tennakoon, Hanzil Samad, Hafi Abdeen, Jeffrey De Jong, Stefan Da Zilva and Jeffrey Yu.
Perera hung his boots prematurely to concentrate on his career and spend more time with his family. He took pride in developing his business, which had very humble beginnings.
The phenomenal success of his business took a wrong twist, when 72-year-old Ilex Perera was shot on July 28 in Tudella, Ja-Ela on his routine visit to the bank with his wife, by what is believed to be a planned robbery.
Unfortunately Perera succumbed to his injuries at the Ragama National Hospital, shortly after admission. Ilex Perera is survived by his wife Elizabeth, sons Varna and Ranga (both in the United Kingdom) who represented rugby team of St. Joseph’s College, Colombo.
Born on October 15, 1942 and called to rest on July 28, his funeral took place last Thursday at the Dehiyagatha Roman Catholic Church amidst a large gathering of family members and friends.
Shiraz Refai