A devout Catholic to the core

THE SALT OF THE EARTH! A phrase one seldom hears in this day and age, but a phrase so aptly suited to FRANCIS ANTHONY WILLIAM IRUGALBANDARA.TO the family he was Franki and to others within his orbit he was Frank; frank not only by name, but by his very nature.

A man enriched and overflowing with the one quality within us that appears to be diminishing at a very rapid RATE-HUMANITY! This was a quality he preserved, cultivated and held dear throughout his life irrespective of the positions in high office he held or his various successes in life as a whole.

He was the most humblest of human beings with a composure and a temperament to match. I doubt there being an individual in existence that would have witnessed him ever to be in an angry mood or being short tempered. Never was a word uttered in uncontrolled anger. He was a man who treated his word as his bond and honoured his word in every respect.

Being a devoted and loving husband to his wife Nesta and an encouraging and supportive father to their two daughters Sujivie and Cynthica, he was also a source of unlimited favour to his grandchildren. He remained inseparable from their lives throughout and will no doubt remain inseparable from memory. He continued to be a dependable source of strength to his sister and brother and his many relations. The void created by his passing will be deemed infinite by them all.

A devout Catholic to the core his silent but magnanimous contributions towards the creation and development of many churches, and his unfettered philanthropy towards the poor and needy will remain in the hearts and minds of a very few which is how he desired it to be. He was staunch practitioner in the phrase ‘ when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing ’To conclude I would like to borrow the first and last verse from ‘Rudyard Kipling’s IF’ which would be most appropriate in summarizing the life and times of FRANK IRUGALBANDRA.

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a

Man, my son!

Perpetual light shall undoubtedly shine upon you in abundance! REST IN PEACE uncle Frank!

(Hasantha)