Attorney Lakshman Ranasinghe passes away
Demise of another 1961 classmate - September 19, 2006
Lakshman Ranasinghe, an attorney-at-lawby profession passed away due to heart failure yesterday. Mr.Ranasinghe who had attended courts at Hultsdorp last morning had later gone to theOrganisation of Professional Associations (OPA)of which he was the Secretary. At the OPA Mr.Ranasinghe had suffered from a heart attack and died on his way to the General Hospital.
At the time of death, Mr.Ranasinghe was a Committee member of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka(BASL).He was the former Chairman of State Pharmaceuticals Coporation (SPC), CISIR, Land Reform Commission Under the United National Party governments and was Chef de mission of the National Olympic Committee.
His body lies at his residence G3, 8 th Lane, Colombo 3. The funeral will be on Thursday, September 21, 2006
posted by Royal 1961 Groupies @ 9:02 AM
4 Comments:
AN ODE TO MR LAKSHMAN RANASINGHE- RC 61 GROUP(SINHALA MEDIUM)
It is with deep regret that we acknowledge the envitable-the news of Lakshman's sudden and premature death.
Lakshman strode the boxing arena at RC like a colossus, mingling with other RC boxers such as the late Seymore Roberts(RC 61-English medium), P.Ramchandran, Metha Abeygunewardena, Edward De Silva, Faiz ur' Rahman, M.Osman etc. all past RC boxing captains. We had the good fortunate not to witness Lakshman lose a single match in the ring, be it the house matches, stubbs shield or the Royal-Thomian.
This was the era of the early 1960s, when we as whiz kids at RC, were overawed by the ringcraft exploits of ex- heavyweights such as Archie Moore(dubbed the Old Fox), Mr Handsome Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston (dubbed the Bear) and the evergreen Muhammed Ali.So much so that even a staff member at RC was nicknamed Sonny Liston, for his overbearing personality.A boxing meet was a treat to watch and Lakshman's prowess in boxing was amptly demonstrated, which enabled him to represent RC at the Stubbs shield and eventually win college colours in Boxing.
I recall with nostalgia, the encounters I had with Lakshman as my sparring partner at 5pm in the boxing ring on the Ground floor of the East Wing lobby watched by that doyen of RC& SL boxing Mr Danton Obeysekera and the well groomed and impeccably dressed Mr Emmanuel Fernando(art teacher) M.I.C.RC boxing.
I found the nimble fleet footed, quick reflexed Lakshman, more than a balanced match to me, who was a novice to the sport and more stockily built.He guilely evaded my power packed right and left jabs and hooks which took him off the ring on a few occasions and gave me a torrid time in the ring, with his mongoose type forays on my solar plexus and thereabouts.This form of severe treatment put paid to my hopes of continuing the sport at representative level.But the gentleman in Lakshman apologised to me, no sooner the sparring sessions ended and we were the best of pals thereafter, in the true spirit of sportsmanship. My pals Sala Wahid and N Zarook will vouch for this small episode.Our revered guru Mr Cecil Belleth later persuaded me to continue the game at Hartley House level through the Head Prefect Mr Duleep De Chickera- the incumbent Anglican Bishop Of Colombo- Eric Manny may remember this incident.
Though boxing and studies are not the ideal combination for a schoolboy, Lakshman excelled in his higher studies and eventually passed out as an Attorney-at law of the Supreme Court of S.L.,besides his other professional attainments mentioned above.
In conclusion, on behalf of the members of the 61 group of RC,may I express our heartfelt condolences to Laksman's bereaved family members.
Goodbye sweet Prince may we someday meet again donning those ebony hued worn out boxing gloves of RC, though now they are red, in more pleasanter circumstances, but much before your soul attain the supreme bliss of Nirvana.
Vernon Clifford Kern
RC 61 Group- English Medium
I was very sorry to hear of 'Lucky' Ranasighe's passing. I must say I was staggered at the eloquence of Kern's tribute to him. Vernon was not famous in school for being a great writer, but if he writes this well, he should be writing books! I had no idea that you tried out
boxing, Vernon.
Ranasinghe was not only a boxer and a gentleman, he was a great
speaker and debater too, so I am not surprised he ended up as a
lawyer.
He was nicknamed 'Jomo' for his speaking ability, after Kenyan leader and orator Jomo Kenyata.
Rest in Peace, Lucky Ranasinghe.
eric
This is indeed sad news of yet another of us passing to the next world at an early age of 56/57. He achieved greatness and respect in his profession and I was surprised that he even became a lawyer as he was not really an assidous student at College. Like most of us; he was a general "Yakka" and his achievements are even more remarkable as a result.
I knew him quite well as he lived close to me and we sometimes traveled the same bus ( when the fare was 5 cents) oftentimes on the footboard as it was a free ride. It is not surprising that he became a good orater/debator as he was able to always shout the conductor down as to why we should not pay anything when we were really NOT IN THE BUS.
May he achieve peace and all the blessings in the next life. My sincere condolences to his family in this sudden passing.
Rifky
Lakshman Ranasinghe, JPUM, Attorney-at-Law
Lakshman came into contact with me when he was elected chairman and I secretary of the RC-61-Group for the year Mar-1999/Mar-2000.
We produced a directory of 222-guys (145-traced; 9-deceased; 68 untraced) of the RC-61-Group and issued it at the memorable Millennium reunion at the NCC on Fri., 10.03M.2000 to a record crowd of some 80-guys.
Lakshman held sway then, making all those announcements in his inimitable way.
Rest in Peace dear Lakshman, we luv you.
Firoze Sameer
RC English Medium 61-Group
27.09M.06
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