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Appreciations

A sound farewell to the voice of Lanka in America
Deeptha Leelaratne
Veteran journalist Deeptha Leelaratne took his final bow before a large gathering of friends who were at the hallowed North Hollywood Wat Phai temple grounds, to participate in the funeral services presided over by Venerable Amabantota Kolitha Thera of the Sarachchandra Buddhist Center in Los Angeles. Prelates from the five Buddhist Temples in Los Angeles were also present.

Deeptha, whose pioneering efforts in publishing the first Sri Lankan newspaper in the Western USA and also the first Radio Station "Tharanga', had won overwhelming acclaim from thousands of Sri Lankans due to his endearing qualities of friendship and service to fellowmen. This theme of service ran like a golden thread throughout his life, said some of the people who attended the funeral services.

Fellow Times journalist Walter Jayawardana described Deeptha as one of a new breed of journalists handpicked by late D. B. Dhanapala when he launched the Lankadipa in the 1950s. Deeptha had scooped the presence of oil resources in North West Sri Lanka at the time when the Soviet drilling team did oil exploration work. Even though the project at Pesalai did not come to fruition, subsequent studies point to the presence of oil in the region, Walter said. The Sri Lankan government is today pursuing this seriously.

Deeptha will be remembered for his efforts in starting the "Sri Lanka Express" together with his wife, Hassina. Their legacy is indeed legendary, he added.
Philip Fernando, former Deputy Editor of the Ceylon Observer, said Deeptha was a patriot for all seasons. He brought Sri Lankan culture to the new generation of Sri Lankans living thousands of miles away from home. Whether he wrote about the ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka or the need for building strong cultural ties with his motherland, Deeptha was a guiding light to everyone who read his columns, he said.

Thousands will miss him dearly, he added.
Chandra Ranasinghe, former editor of Sri Lanka's first women's magazine, "Vanitha Vitti", said the large gathering present was a telling testimony to the manner Sri Lankans came to know and respect Deeptha. He enriched our lives immeasurably, she added.

Deeptha leaves behind his wife Hassina, a veteran journalist herself and English graduate from the Peradeniya University, and their only son, Sahan, a senior undergraduate at UCLA.

A friend

She was everything
Thelma Jayawardena
It is so hard to put into words what I feel when I think of Aunty Thelma. I owe her so much. She was my mother, my guardian and the most fantastic person I have ever known. She was a pillar of strength to those around her, unwavering, full of principles and at the same time gentle, kind and caring.
When my mother passed away, she felt it was her responsibility to look after me. I owe her everything. She was always there for me ensuring that I did my best in whatever I undertook, urging me on through school, through university and later on through life.

She instilled in me that nothing could take the place of a good education. I will never forget her English lessons as a little girl. She was the best teacher, a gift so rare these days.

I will always remember the beautiful Sundays my family spent with her on her estate. My boys would enjoy listening to her endless reservoir of stories and she would patiently answer all their questions. The hearty Sunday lunches with Aunty Thelma were the highlight of the day.

When my daughter was born, I called to give her the news and she wept with joy. She was so thrilled for me and kept repeating "now you have a daughter to look after you." After I moved overseas I would call her often to chat to her and she was always keen to know how the children were doing. I am so glad that I was able to take my daughter to visit her. I spent a wonderful week with her in April last year.

I will treasure all those memories. I talked to her just prior to her falling ill and the last thing she said to me was "treasure those children". Those words will stay with me always. Yes Aunty Thelma I will treasure them like I will always treasure and remember you. Thank you for everything. I will love you always.

Anne Marie

She helped those in need in a quiet manner
Sithy Nissa Firdouse
A good friend, dedicated teacher, sincere social worker, this sums up Sithy Nissa Firdouse who passed away on January 10. Gentle in her ways, soft-spoken, kind and understanding, she was a friend to many. She was someone to whom one could turn to when faced with a problem. She was ever willing to help, giving her suggestions unobtrusively. She was the favourite aunt who was the confidante, guide and counsellor to her niece Shamila and her nephew Safraz. She was the true help-mate to her two sisters. A trained teacher, she taught in many schools in Colombo Central but it was Dhar-as Salam Maha Vidyalaya that she always spoke of, insisting that it was worthwhile helping the needy children of this school. We, her friends will fulfil her wish. Insha Allah!

At the time of her death she was teaching at the Fathima Home that houses many orphans. She always spoke of them with affection and wanted to do her best for them. I am certain that these girls will miss her greatly. A committed and dedicated social worker, she was genuinely interested in helping the poor and needy.

The two societies she was most involved in, the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Friendship Association where she was a committee member and the Young Women's Muslim Association where she was Vice-President, kept her busy. She was happy to involve herself in fund-raising activities to help the needy as well as in social activities.

The work she did at the YWMA was tremendous and must not be underestimated, as it was done quietly and without publicity and fanfare. Be it the Kola Kanda project, distribution of spectacles to the poor, giving uniform material and exercise books to needy schoolchildren, helping displaced families, Sithy Nissa was at the forefront in collecting funds. On several occasions, she personally donated cash to displaced families at Ehelagama (Nochchiagama).
To me she was a very dear friend. I will miss her.

May Allah bless her!
Marina Ismail

There was music, laughter and yummy cakes wherever she went
Sybil Abayasekara
There will be a few hundred people around who will remember Sybil Abayasekara for the incomparable cakes she made for them - birthday cakes in all shapes and sizes, engagement cakes, wedding cakes with elaborate structures, christening cakes, Christmas cakes, and love cakes. Many others, my family among them, will remember her delight in having relatives and friends at her table, partaking of one of the delicious meals she loved to prepare for them. Her dwindling group of Ladies' College classmates will recall her pleasure when it was her turn to host the monthly class-reunion.

Neither age nor lack of domestic help diminished her enthusiasm for having friends gather in her home. ‘Hospitality’ was her other name. I had only to mention that one of our children was coming from abroad - or even our son and family from Kandy - and she would immediately want us all to come for a meal.

It seemed appropriate that on that fateful day, January 12, this year, she should have had about 20 people who had come to her house for the weekly Thursday Bible study that has been held there for years and that she had prepared an array of food to be served after the meeting. An additional incentive on this day was the presence from England of her daughter and son-in-law, both of them doctors, and her eldest grand-daughter (also a doctor) and family. Her joy in her two little great-grandchildren, 4-year-old Sammy and 2-year-old Eleanor, the latter born on the same day as her great-Archchi, was boundless.

Somebody came to the door and when Sybil went to her front doorstep to talk to him, she slipped and fell and broke her leg. While everyone present was filled with dismay, nobody foresaw it as the prelude to the end. Sybil's fracture was attended to in hospital and when she came home after 5 days there she seemed cheerful and well.

But on the night of January 22, with a devoted cousin, Marlene, at her bedside, she had a sudden heart attack and passed away, leaving behind a stricken family and a host of friends to mourn her passing.

Sybil was an independent person. After her husband, Ivor, died several years ago, she continued to live alone in their house in Ratmalana without even a domestic help. Her only concession to security was in having a man she knew, to come to sleep in her garage at night.

She did her own housework and marketing and attended to household maintenance, payment of utility bills and all the things that Ivor had seen to while he was alive. She had a little annexe occupied by another widowed lady. But the neighbourhood in which she had lived for so long held many old friends and having their support and that of her church, family and close relatives, she never complained of loneliness. Nor was she scared to be on her own at night.

She was sustained by a deep faith and trust in God. She loved to make an annual visit to her daughter and family in England, but even after she celebrated her 84th birthday over there last year, together with her great-granddaughter's 2nd birthday, they couldn't persuade her to uproot herself from Sri Lanka and move to make her home with them in the last years. She paid a long visit to her son and family in Australia and although she seemed to enjoy herself very much, they too found there was no point in asking her to come to live with them.

Sybil was a caring person, always concerned about others, ready to do anything she could to be of help. She was a good neighbour in every sense of the word, loving relative and friend. She had a sense of fun. There was a lot of music and laughter at any gathering in her house, particularly when Ivor was alive. They danced well together. With Ronnie Abayasekara playing his clarinet and Ronnie's wife Premini at the piano, a happy sing-song was also invariably a part of the evening's entertainment. She had a strong family-feeling and any party at Sybil's was packed with relatives from both sides, a pattern that continued even when she lived alone.

It must console her son, Ramesh, greatly that he came over last December and spent three wonderful weeks with his mother who was in her element having him to squire her around and for whom she held a memorable luncheon party to which she had invited all his old friends and companions who were still in Sri Lanka, as well as dozens of cousins and relatives who had known him from boyhood. Similarly, her daughter Shalini and family must derive comfort from the fact that she had spent some happy days in their company in that week before she fell. Shalini stayed behind with her mother for as long as she could when the rest of her family had to return to England.

It was characteristic of Sybil that before Shalini left, she had herself wheeled to her spacious, wonderfully-equipped kitchen-cum-pantry and, with some help, she made one of her famous love-cakes for Shalini to take back with her.
Being human, we grieve that she is no longer with us, but we thank God for every remembrance of Sybil, knowing we can leave her safely now in the nearer presence of the Lord whom she loved and trusted to the end.

Anne

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