Rababindranath (sic) Gunasekara
Rabindranath B. Gunasekara, a UC Davis graduate student and campus opportunities development officer, died of a heart attack Aug. 3, 2003, during a visit to his hometown of Colombo, Sri Lanka. He was 43.
The former program coordinator at the Center for South Asia Studies at UC Berkeley, from 1995-2001, he earned a bachelor's degree in international relations and a master's degree in history from UCD. He returned to Davis to pursue his doctorate in geography, with Professor Janet Momsen supervising, and work full-time for the University Outreach and International Programs office.
He was active in a number of community programs, including the campus book project committee, which selects a book about issues of diversity and plans activities around it for students, faculty and staff.
He was traveling in Asia working on his dissertation at the time of his death. He returned home to Sri Lanka as a guest of the Royal College Rugby Union, acting as honorary captain of a team of past players for their 25th anniversary reunion.
Known as "Raba," during the late 1970s he led not only led the college's rugby team, which contained seven future national team players, but excelled in track and field, basketball and rowing. He also played rugby at the club level, and later led a UCD team to victory over UCLA.
His Davis home became a gathering place for Sri Lankans in the area. One newspaper in his homeland called him "a lovable character and outstanding sportsman." He was a doting father, the story noted, who always kept a picture book of his family with him.
He is survived by his wife Niromi, daughters Natasha and Alexandra, parents Valentine and Ranee, sister Nashtaka, brothers, Suranjith, Devindranath, Ajith, Surendranath, Indrajith and Amrith, father- and mother-in-law Dr. Ronald and Sita Wijewantha, extended family and friends.
A memorial service to honor his life will be held Aug. 16, 2003, at the Unitarian Church in Davis, 27074 Patwin Road. A funeral was held in Sri Lanka Thursday, Aug. 8, 2003, and was followed by cremation.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks donations be made to a fund in Sri Lanka that will support a scholarship at his alma matter, to be given to a student "displaying the ideals of team effort and sportsmanship Raba embodied on the rugby and cricket fields," and to buy sporting equipment for underprivileged children, as he did during his lifetime.
Checks should be made out to the Raba Gunasekara Memorial Account (No. 0030532497) and may be mailed to: 2002 Hopper Place, Davis CA 95616.
(Obituary from the "The Davis Enterprise," Sunday, August 10, 2003, (Yolo County, California). Submitted with the permission of the "The Davis Enterprise," 315 G Street, Davis, CA 95616, <
http://www.davisenterprise.com/>. Please note: I am not related to the family listed above, and I do not have any further information on this family.)