Appreciations
View(s):Truly a silent legend of Richmond Galle and true gentleman
P. K. Sanadheera
The demise of this most gracious gentleman left many of us in Galle, especially generations of the old boys of Richmond with a singular sense of loss. He was not only a schoolteacher and principal par excellence but was also a kind and compassionate soul. A posthumous tribute does little justice, but it’s the best I could do on behalf of all of our members of the Richmond OBA, to express how fortunate and how grateful we are to have known this wonderful human being.
He was truly a ‘’Silent legend of RCG and a true gentleman” in every sense, reserved in manner and speech, modest but cultured in his style of living and above all possessed a heart of gold.
Piyasena Kariyawasam Senadheera, born in 1936 in Galle to Diyonis Kariyawasam and Thelikada Masachchige Baby Nona of Godakanada was the third of a family of nine children. A full-blooded Richmondite, he joined College in 1941 and after a successful school career entered the Colombo University graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree. He opted to continue his professional life at his alma mater and joined the tutorial staff of RCG in 1961 where he quickly earned the respect and admiration of his peers, students as well as school authorities as an accomplished teacher, in recognition of which he was appointed Vice Principal in 1972.
In the same year Mr.Senadheera met the love of his life Clarice who was also a graduate teacher. They married and the loving couple was blessed with two sons, Harsha and Vidura. I have the pleasure of still associating closely with Harsha with whom I have had the opportunity of working at Seylan Bank.
From 1973 to 1981 our beloved guru served as a senior lecturer in the Teachers’Training College of Veyangoda and was promoted to the post of Principal at Unawatuna Teachers’ Training College.
In 1981 in recognition of his wealth of experience as an exceptional trainer of teachers, Mr. Senadheera was invited by the Government of Nigeria to serve as a consultant at the University of Abuja, where he generously contributed his knowledge and experience till 1985. Though he had to temporally vacate his post at Unawatuna Teachers’ Training College, the Management of the Training College was eagerly awaiting his return to Sri Lanka and once again made him the principal there. He continued working there till his retirement in 1992.
Mr. Senadheera also served in the Administrative body of the RCOBA in various capacities from time to time, imparting guidance in his own style of gentle authority, He continued to be an active participant until his demise on November 28, this year, at the age of 85.
There was a famous politician in Galle, who (like all politicians) would never miss a funeral house in the locality mainly to gain popularity among the voters. Our dear Mr. Senadheera never missed a funeral either but he did it not for personal gain or popularity, but due to the genuine goodness of his heart and concern for the dead and the bereaved.
Throughout the ages, principals and staff of Richmond were “christened” with various nicknames. It is perhaps an unspoken tribute to this great man that never in his entire teaching career did anyone ever dream of a nickname for him.
The exemplary qualities and compassion of this wonderful gentleman par excellence will be etched forever in our memory .
This is not a goodbye Sir, for we hope to see you on the other side- even though we also hope that the road to your Nirvana will deservedly be short.
Bandula Wickramathilake
The contributions he made to the country are manifold
Dr Wickrema Weerasooriya
The third death anniversary of Dr Wickrema Weerasooriya fell on December 4. Dr Wickrema was an eminent academic, lawyer, University lecturer, Ministry Secretary, diplomat, Presidential Advisor, Ombudsman and my one-time boss.
I met him first at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya during my first year in 1960. He was in his final year as a law student. Later I had the privilege of working under him when he was Secretary of the Ministry of Plan Implementation where he was instrumental in establishing many a novel project such as the Development Lottery, Children’s Secretariat, Population Division, Fertilizer Secretariat, IRD projects and the Job Bank Scheme etc.
I had the privilege of working closely with him on the Development Lottery Scheme. I was asked to take charge of the Lottery Centre as well as being Director Employment and Manpower Planning. When he observed my reluctance, he called me and said, “I know you are worried thinking you will lose your position at the Manpower Division. It will not happen. You will spend more time at the Lottery and ask your officials to meet you there for instructions.”
He was instrumental in reviving the publication of several magazines. The popular Sinhala magazine ‘Sanskruti” was revived during his time. Working with him was enjoyable, fruitful and valuable.
The scratch and win instant lottery was also started by him and its proceeds channelled to the President’s Fund and to the Mahapola Fund.
I worked with him at the Ministry from 1978 until he left to take up duties as Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific countries.
He had an excellent academic record at Royal College winning coveted accolades in Western Classics. He obtained a First Class at University winning the prize for best performance and the Law of Evidence. He obtained his Ph.D from the London School of Economics. He also lectured in universities in Australia.
A well known legal academic, he authored over 14 books mostly on banking credit and commercial law.
The contributions he made to the country, society and religion are immeasurable.
May he attain the Supreme Bliss of Nibbana.
Lalith Heengama
Remembering an all-round media man on his 100th birthday
Noel Crusz
It was on a sunny morning at the Colombo Airport, Ratmalana in 1956, that crowds gathered to witness some of Hollywood’s biggest stars arrive to shoot a film in Ceylon. Renowned director David Lean, Alec Guinness and a host of other stars were in the island to act for what would be the Oscar-winning Best Picture film, Bridge on the River Kwai. However, the crowds and the stars were quite surprised to see a slender, neatly dressed Catholic priest holding a H16 Bolex camera filming them.
This was Fr. Noel Crusz OMI. The young priest would go on to interview Lean at the Mount Lavinia Hotel and visit the film set in the outskirts of Kitulgala. He had the privilege of witnessing the famous explosion when the train goes off the bridge on the Kelani river which “stood in” for the river Kwai.
Noel Crusz was then the Director of the ‘Catholic Hour’ for Radio Ceylon, and a few years before had gone on a tour to Europe and the US to study religious mass media. In USA, he met and befriended some of Hollywood’s most popular actors and actresses, including Bing Crosby, Tyronne Power and Loretta Young, who would correspond with him for decades after. Many years later, he was invited by Sophia Loren to visit her in her home in Italy. He had the rare privilege to broadcast for the BBC, Vatican Radio, the Voice of America and some European radio networks. Apart from broadcasting, he had mastered an art not many in Sri Lanka were familiar with at that time….. film making.
Born on December 6, 1921, his siblings also achieved national and international recognition, in science and zoology, literature and poetry, in puppetry, in singing, and in photography. Receiving a good education from the Oblates of St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya, the young Noel was inspired by his teacher Fr. Peter Alcantara Pillai, OMI to join the priesthood. After his ordination just after Independence in 1948, he was appointed to the staff of his alma mater, St. Peter’s. It was during this time that Colombo’s Archbishop Thomas Cardinal Cooray OMI, recognised his potential and backed him to get involved in broadcasting.
Soon he would get involved in writing plays for stage and radio. Some of his notable productions were with J.O. Ebert’s Penguins group, who were the best at that time. These were plays like Pontine Marshes and Thy Kingdom Come, which drew thousands of girls and boys. At the same time, he went on to write for newspapers such as The Times of Ceylon, The Ceylon Daily News and The Messenger. His writing was concise, lucid and very readable. His magnum opus titled the Cocos Island Mutiny was first serialised in the evening tabloids in Sri Lanka and then published many years later as a book from his Master’s thesis for the University of Sydney.
Since the early 1950s Noel pursued serious film making. It was he who saw the young Familian Maureen Hingert and brought her to the attention of the media, way before she was crowned Miss Ceylon in 1957. After a series of short films, some not successful, Noel was inspired to film a phenomenal documentary in Italy with his Bolex camera gifted by Bing Crosby about St. Maria Goretti, where the saint’s real mother, siblings and murderer appear. The 40-minute colour film came out in 1953.
Noel went on to produce and direct some remarkable films during the ’50s and ’60s. These included Little Bike Lost (1956), Road to Boys’ Town (1958) and Palm Fringed Isle (1960). These films especially Little Bike Lost produced with the boys of St. Joseph’s College were screened all around the country drawing thousands of viewers. Truly, Noel Crusz was an unsung pioneer of Sri Lankan cinema.
His outgoing personality, social acceptance and expertise in mass media were the envy of some of his contemporaries. The 1960s was a rough patch for Noel. Propelled by what Cardinal Cooray would call ‘a scandal’, Noel Crusz opted to leave the priesthood, as he no longer felt that was his calling. After several failed attempts, he was given the dispensation by Pope Paul VI to marry in the church. He married a distant cousin of his, Marie Tirzah.
After much controversy, Noel, now a layman, worked as a journalist for some newspapers including The Sun. After he and Tirzah migrated to Sydney, Australia, he went on to teach in secondary schools for the rest of his life. Despite living thousands of miles away from Sri Lanka, he never lost touch with the country and would constantly write to the papers as an astute observer of contemporary affairs. He passed away after a long illness in 2003.
This year marks the centenary of Noel Crusz’s birth. An all-round media man, his diverse potential made him one of a kind.
Avishka Mario Senewiratne
Thank you for the golden memories that I will cherish
Allen Christopher Perera
Allen and I were classmates at St. Peter’s College in the 1960s often referred to as the Swinging Sixties when the Beatles revolutionised music. This was the exciting era of the mini skirt and when one could see the dashing Sean Connery in the James Bond movies screened at the Savoy.
At school he was one year senior to me. Schools in those days opened at 8.15 and closed at 3.15 with an hour’s lunch break – he was a familiar sight going to his cousin Ronnie Gunarathne’s for lunch. My first impression of Allen was of a quiet serious guy but when you conversed with him you realized he was very much a man of the world.
Allen accepted the first offer of employment made to him by A.F. Raymond, the leading undertakers as one of their funeral directors. He served in that organisation for over 30 years. He was popular and respected for his high standard of integrity and devotion to duty and his premature retirement came as a surprise to many.
He was a loyal Peterite and one of the most important events of his calendar was the annual Joe-Pete Big Match. He would be one of the first to purchase tickets and would entertain his friends in his spacious home on match days. In his last few years, with fading health he would watch the match on TV.
A perfect gentleman, Allen was a confirmed bachelor. With his movie star looks he turned many heads but though he had many admirers, he always sidestepped the issue of marriage.
His dearest friend and companion was his mother. She passed away three years ago and having to move out of his house and into a retirement home dimmed his spirits.
With his passing away on August 24, a friendship which began in a classroom and spanned 56 years has ended. Goodbye Ally, you were a priceless gem among the teeming millions. Thanks for the superb times – these are golden memories I will cherish. That Frank Sinatra song ‘My Way’ was a favourite of yours. Yeah, sure you did it your way and on some sunny day, on a beautiful shore, we will meet again.
Wasantha Rajendran
We miss you so
LILANGANIE JANAKIE IZZADEEN
No words can describe the loss we suffered with her sudden demise on December 4, 2020.
Her loving eldest daughter, Fazeela, her loving son-in-law Yasas, her two grandchildren Nethwin and Pravindhi, and I, miss Lilanganie greatly. Her loss has also affected her loving siblings.
A charming, beautiful personality, with a heart full of love and care to all who associated with her in her church, Lilanganie was also loved by the entire staff at the institutions where she helped out.
Lilanganie was taken by her Lord, with the minimum of physical pain.
A good housewife, with a caring heart, she looked into all the essentials a home requires.
A party live wire, she was blessed with a melodious voice, was skilled in event organising, and a perfect dancer to all beats – my partner in all aspects of family enjoyment.
We miss you Lilanganie, now and for ever.
May the Lord keep you in comfort, which you deserve very much.
Fazal Izzadeen
A Dad remembered 15 years on….
Bryan Paul Senanayake
A dad’s love is special
A love beyond compare
You only know the meaning
When he is no longer there…
15 years have passed by
15 years without your warm embrace
15 more years if I had you
It would have been a heavenly grace.
No day passes by
That I don’t miss you
My only comfort
That you are in a better place.
I know you are with our Lord
Mother Mary, close by
Watching over me daily
From heaven where you abide.
In happiness and in sorrow
In sunshine and in rain
I know you will stay by my side
Until we meet again.
Remembering is easy
I do it everyday
Missing you daily is the heartache
That will never go away.
Your loving daughter Shima Senanayake
A void that will be hard to fill
Rohan Tudawe
It is with profound sadness that I am penning a few lines of appreciation about our beloved and long-standing friend Rohan whose sudden death was a shock to all who knew him. He was a gentleman par excellence and our association spanned over 50 years. His sudden demise has created a void which cannot be filled either in his home or with those who knew, loved and admired him.
My wife Ayoma always says that Rohan was more than a brother to her just as much as his late father Lawrence was.
The Wijewardene and Tudawe families have been extremely close for so many decades and have had such memorable times together.
Rohan, we miss you dearly and I hope we would meet again sometime in our journey through Samsara.
Shantilal Wijesundere
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