It is with great sadness that I report Passing of Nihal Nagahawatte today. Nihal Passed away peacefully at home
Funeral arrangements:
Vander May Funeral Home
567 Ratzer Road
Wayne, NJ 07470
Tel. (973) 696-2900
Saturday – May 20,2017
Visitation 9AM to 12 pm
Cremation 1PM
-Wije Kottahachchi
News, Views and More from Batch'64, Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, SriLanka 
Thank you Sam / Wije for the sad news of Nihal’s passing in to Eternity …
May he Rest In Peace …
I extend My Deepest Sympathies to his loving wife and children and grand children .
I remember , like as if it was yesterday, when I first saw him on the Registration day that September of a long time ago .
There was this young lad- with his boyish good looks, barely out of his teens- in Med School already.
I think, he was one of the youngest in the class, along with Shantha Liyanarachchi, ( who is sadly gone away too .. ) Mahen Menon, Sunila and Selvamalar.
I remember him getting a bit rowdy at the Block- Students- Staff Cricket match- and I had to tell him ‘to settle down and behave ‘ !!!!– the Bharat Mata that I was !!!.
We were very good friends at Med School- but , lost touch after I moved to Canada, some 44 yrs ago .
I was sad to hear that one of the youngest in the Class of 64 became ill with what he endured, along with his very brave and loving family for such a long time .
Blessings and Peace … to you my dear friend Nihal, and Deepest Sympathies to the family .
Deepthie .
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Our heart felt condolences to Nihal’s wife,children and grand children.
Maharojani and Sreetharan.
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I wish to extend my deep and heartfelt Sympathy to his wife and family
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We extend our deepest condolences to Nihal’s family
Satha and Selvamalar
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Piching and I convey our heartfelt sympathies to Nelum and the daughters.
Nisantha & Piching
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We extend our deepest condolences to Nihal’s wife and family- Indragee and Manel from SriLanka
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Deepest sympathies to Nihal’s wife and family. May he rest in peace.
Cletus Fernando (ICM).
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Our deepest sympathies to Nihal’s family. May he attain Nibbana.
Ana and Indira
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My deepest sympathies to Nelum and daughters.
Anoja
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Dear Mrs Nagahawatte & Family,
Please accept my heartfelt deepest sympathies . May Nihal’s Soul Rest in Peace.
Seelan from Sydney
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My dear buddy Nihal,
So sad to hear of your loss,
‘Mohammad Rafi’ of our batch
Vividly remember your innocent pranks
While we all were at Bloem!
You were the youngest
and the most jovial among us
Recollect like yesterday
queueing for films absconding classes
That ever happy smiling face
Meladious voice we loved
By your absence
The world is permanently deprived
May you attain Nibbana
My dear friend
Ariya
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Our deepest sympathies to Nelum and daughters May he attain Nibbana.
Dalpe & Priyankarie
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It was so sad to hear the passing away of Nagahawatte. My deepest sympathies to Nelun and the two daughters. I was at the wedding of her two daughters which took place at the same time with two different poruwa ceremonies in Colombo. I still remember how Nelun entered with both daughters hands held in both her hands with a picture of Nagahawatte ( as we used to call him ) near the poruwa with a candle lit by the side of his photo. Once when we were in the US he drove to wherever we were and took us for a dinner at his place ( just like how Seelan came to our hotel in Sydney and took us to his house for a wonderful stay )and dropped us off in the middle of the night. I suppose it is a blessing in disguise as he will no longer be suffering. Praxy and Ranjit.
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Sorry to learn the demise of Nagahawatte. My heartfelt sympathies to his wife and daughter. I was not in touch with many of my batch mates even then it’s sad to learn of their passing away. May his soul RIP.
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HI Praxy,’
I remember you telling me all about the wedding of Nihal’s two daughters in Colombo, and with a sad heart I recalled it again … y’day., and it is nice you wrote about it today, for all of us to see ..
May his soul Attain Nibbana …
Deepthie
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My deepest sympathies on Nihals passing away.he was a good friend I’m college and we will miss him
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Sorry to hear the passing away of Maharashtra.He visited Rahula & me in 1964/65 during the the term vacation .& We went to Keerimalai &had toddy.(It was like yesterday.
Our deepest sympathies to his family.May his soul rest in peace.
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I felt extremely sad to hear about Nihal’s passing away. My deepest sympathies to his family.
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Please accept my most sincere condolences for the sad loss. he was one of natures gentleman and it is indeed very sad news all of us batch mates
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A framed copy of the picture above with printed stack of all your messages on this post were sent to Nelum. Many thanks to Wije for doing the needful
Sam
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It was with great sadness that we received the news of Nihal’s death. Even though he was ill for a very long time, it is still hard to accept he is no more. He was so handsome and active and full of humour that it was great fun to be around him. I was in the same floor in the Bloem with him and his singing and playing the mouth organ and guitar were one of the highlights of our Bloem life. He and I together with Biga and Charlie Pieris (who passed away in October 2014) would make it a point to be at the first show of any Hindi film screened in Colombo. On return we would spend hours listening to him singing songs from the film.
His good looks and melodious voice made him a big hit with the arts faculty girls during our strike over the change of University name. Their admiration for him turned into hero worship when he undid his shirt buttons and bared his chest to a constable wielding a rifle and said “puluwannam thiyapan mata (if you can shoot me)”. I remember him going on bended knee to Hindi actress Vyjayanthimala and trying to impress her about how he was a medical student until her husband Dr. Bali had to ‘shoo’ him off.
There are many things we shared including beer, cigarettes, cricket at Bloem, interesting trips to different parts of the country, visits to the Kuppiyawatte temple on poya days and talking to the local mafia bosses in Punchi Borella. During none of those years did we ever have a falling out.
Our Medical College years were very happy ones full of fun and Nihal played no small part in making it so. When Biga spoke to Nelum she mentioned what a lovely husband he was and how he made her married life really wonderful. Death comes to us all sooner or later but Nihal has left his family and friends with many lovely memories to cherish for the future.
May he attain Nibbana.
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Message from Wije below,
Sam
“Received the photo of Nihal
Also print outs of condolences
Will take to funeral home
tomorrow morning & hand over to Nelum
Please share with 64
Good work, Sam”
Wije
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