Charles Richard Jeevaratnam (Dick) Hensman was called to his eternal rest on July 9, 2008.
Educated at S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia, Dick responded to the call of his “alma mater” when he went back to his school to teach English. He remained a teacher at S. Thomas’ for many years.
I was one among a generation of students who benefited from his labours at Wesley College, Colombo and S. Thomas’. He will be remembered for his ability to stretch the minds of his students and foster their critical consciousness. We learned to form values in a very natural way from the manner in which he taught and lived. With Dick, the “guru-shishya” relationship blossomed into life-long friendships with his students. His Christian faith was integrated with his passionate socialist convictions. To a whole generation of students, Dick has passed on a noble legacy of faith with understanding, a humane ideology linked to a lived praxis.
Dick was a truly gifted writer. His literary efforts at the Community Institute, in Colombo, and the quality of the magazine “Community” that he edited for several years, inspired many social activists and budding writers.
When he left our shores and went to Britain, he worked for a time with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). In the 1960s, he helped found the Tri-continental Liberation Institute, in London, and established a network of Third World groups, nurturing them in thought and action with the literature he produced and distributed.
Dick will also be remembered for his lucid and penetrating Third World writings. His books include: “Rich Against Poor – The Reality of Aid”; “From Gandhi to Che Guevara”; “China: Yellow Peril? Red Hope?”, “Sun Yat-Sen”, and “Agenda for the Poor – Claiming Their Inheritance (A Third World People’s Reading of Luke”).
On his return to Sri Lanka, Dick Hensman made a tremendous contribution to an Asian theology that related to people’s struggles to achieve a fullness of life.
He was an active member of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians, from its inception, and served as its national co-ordinator, while representing the association at meetings overseas. He was also a founder member of the Sri Lanka Association for Theology, and served as its secretary for many years. Both organisations may be classified as ecumenical fellowships, drawing together people from all churches, including the Roman Catholic church. As a young person, Dick was a leader in the Church of Ceylon Youth Movement and the Student Christian Movement.
Dick was a wonderful resource person, along with his wife Pauline, one of Sri Lanka’s first feminist theologians. His humane and humble qualities endeared him to many.
He was always encouraging me to “write it down”, whenever we shared thoughts. In this sense he was a good “guru” and a role model to many writers. We shall miss his presence as a genuine friend.
To Pauline, Rohini, Jimmy and Savitri we offer our deepest sympathies. We rejoice and thank God for Dick’s long life inspired by and rooted in his belief in Jesus Christ and the centrality of God’s reign.
May he rest in peace and rise in glory!
Rev. Jeffrey Abayasekera | 
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