Pushpa Iriyagolla Dharmasena: Demise of a dear lady

All who knew late Pushpa Irriyagolla grieve her untimely death almost a month ago. She was so hale and hearty.    Most of us find it difficult to fathom this loss, as she was such a lively lady enjoying life with Cecil, daughter Yoshitha and Son, Nishan, daughter in law and grandson. A gracious and a simple lady, Pushpa touched the hearts of all who knew her- be it at Visakha Vidyalaya, the school she studied before she entered the Peradeniya University, and at the Pushpdana College  where she started as a teacher.

Pushpa, born on November 20, 1941, hails from a well to do family, the head being, Late
I.M.R.A. Iriyagolla, a one-time Minister of Education, who left an incredible mark as a Minister years ago.
The Late Mr Irriyagolla and his wife late Ranee Iriyagolla made an impact on the life of Pushpa whether studies and interests or outlook, especially in writing.
Pushpa with such fully fledged background education and influence of her late father and late mother and her natural talent started writing from her very young days.
As she grew she became a prolific writer in late stages in life, where she developed her writing skills as she had a partner at home Cecil who too continues to write. Both contributed their skills to writing much-valued articles in many publications.

She was also a keen follower of drama, from school days, and in entering Peradeniya University, was selected with me to be a member of the choir of Sinhabahu the famous drama of one of the great personalities late Prof Ediriweera Sarachchandra, who with his writing and drama and other cultural promotions is still revered at local and international levels. 
We felt privileged to be in this choir which took us to many parts of Sri Lanka as this famous drama was much in demand and enjoyed by drama lovers. I feel this influence as ardent students of this great Teacher helped us to develop our writing.  Pushpa continued to be engaged writing verse along with prose where she was a contributor to many an article. 

I owe a lot to her as she was a positive supporter of my writing of Sinhalese novels contributing with much-valued suggestions. Like many close friends who miss her, Cecil will miss her association  as a close companion in writing and a dutiful husband, so will Yoshitha, Nishan and his family.
Pushpa will be missed by her students as she was a committed teacher assisting her students as she started her career as a teacher at Pushpadana and later on in her retirement as a teacher in English at the Sub Department of English University. We all knew her as a professional facilitator in English taking much interest to give a helping hand to those whose need was great to develop their English knowledge.
One factor we value in her life that even though she hailed from a family with the political background she never got involved in the day-to-day politics, rather continued to b actively involved in social work.
Pushpa imbibed well of her family especially her brother Late Gamini who was a top Civil servant Sri Lanka produced.

May she attain Nibbana!
Jayani C. Pinnawale