The void left by his passing will be hard to fill
I was much saddened to hear of the death of Uncle Neville in London during the height of the coronavirus outbreak in May this year. Sadly, his beloved wife Trixie had also passed away a few days earlier.
Uncle Neville and my mother were batchmates and close friends at Peradeniya University. After passing out in 1954, my mother joined Radio Ceylon while Uncle Neville joined the prestigious Ceylon Civil Service. He was one of the brightest products of the Civil Service and was Government Agent of Ratnapura, Badulla and Jaffna. However, the pinnacle of his career was when he was appointed Director General of Radio Ceylon in 1965 and as he often said, he caught up with his close colleague - my mother, after more than 10 years.
He went on to become the Chairman of the newly formed Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation and many innovative programmes were produced during this period. He took the initiative to introduce Sinhala pop music to be aired over the English Service which resulted in singers like C.T. Fernando and
Clarence Wijewardene becoming household names among the English speaking Sinhala community in the cities. He also brought back the famous Sunil Shantha from the wilderness and encouraged him to record several masterpieces.
With the change of Government in 1970, Uncle Neville was posted as Government Agent - Vavuniya but shortly afterwards, migrated to
England and held top positions in the BBC, Commonwealth Secretariat and World Christian Organization. After retirement, he spent a quiet life in Kent with his wife, devoting himself to religion, meditation and writing. His only daughter unfortunately predeceased him in 2017.
During my mother’s last months in 2016, Uncle Neville used to call regularly from London to inquire about her health and also give her strength and courage to overcome all health difficulties for which gesture I am always grateful. Even after her demise, he wrote a long e-mail to me and also had a nostalgic telephone conversation reminiscing the past.
May his soul Rest in Peace! Mangala Herat Gunaratne