Mary Kappagoda, Obituary

 Fwd: Deeply saddened

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Lakshman Karalliedde

Dec 17, 2021, 4:43 PM

FYI.Hopefullywe would receive an informative note from the daughters of Tissa and mary Karals ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Lakshman Karalliedde

Philip Veersingam

Dec 17, 2021, 6:32 PM

Lakshman, I did not get any obituary notice. Please clarify. Philip

Lakshman Karalliedde

Jan 15, 2022, 6:13 PM (14 hours ago)

to me

An obituary -a fitting one -forLate Mary Kappagoda. Edit as you wish ,liked the photograph of herewith Tissa. Karals

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Manel Kappagoda <manel.kappagoda@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Jan 15, 2022 at 1:00 AM
Subject: Re: Deeply saddened
To: Shanthi Kappagoda <shanthi.kappagoda@gmail.com>
Cc: Lakshman Karalliedde <lakshmankarals35@gmail.com>, Srikanthi Karalliedde <kanthikaralliedde@yahoo.co.uk>

Dear Uncle and Aunty,

I hope you are both well. 

Uncle - Thank you for your request a photo. I have attached some photos as well as a short obituary below. Please feel free to use as you wish.

We are doing OK. The winter holidays were sad but our families got together on Christmas Day so that was nice. Mum usually brought sausage rolls but one of our neighbors made some sausage rolls in her honor which was kind. 

I hope Omicron isn't causing too much disruption in Sri Lanka. It's hard to believe that we're moving into our 3rd year with COVID. 

Best wishes for the New Year.

Manel 

 

Please click on each of the web-links below:-

 

 Mum alone.jpg

 Mum and Dad.tif

 Mum and Ruby as a baby.JPG

Mary Helen Kappagoda

b.12 May 1942 d.29 November 2021

M.B.B.S. University of St. Andrews, Scotland (1965)  

Mary Helen Kappagoda was born in Manchester, England, the daughter of Bernard Maguire, a physician, and Ellen Nestor, a nurse. She grew up in Manchester, in the Old Trafford neighborhood, home to the famed Manchester United football team.  She was educated at St. Andrews University, from which she received her medical degree in 1965 at the age of 23. She also received a post-graduate diploma in the assessment of handicapped children from the University of Leeds in 1977.  Mary worked for the United Kingdom’s National Health Service from 1965 to 1977. She held posts in General Medicine, General Surgery and Anesthesia. She also worked as a community health officer. 

In 1970, she married Tissa Kappagoda, a fellow physician, and they had two daughters, Manel Kappagoda and Shanthi Kappagoda.

Mary Kappagoda

The Kappagoda couple in earlier days

Mary with her Grand-daughter Ruby

 

In 1978, the family moved to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where Tissa had been appointed a professor of medicine at the University of Alberta. While in Canada, she worked as a public health researcher and the director of a clinical trials company that she founded with Tissa. After more than a decade in Canada, the family moved to Davis, California where Tissa took up a post at the University of California at Davis. She lived in Sacramento, California until her death. She loved working in her garden, taking exercise classes at the gym, going to the casino to use the slot machines, and spending time with her family. Throughout her life, she traveled extensively and had friends in many countries including England, Sri Lanka, and Canada.

Mary leaves behind her daughter, Manel, and son-in-law, Wally; her daughter, Shanthi, and son-in-law, Aaron; and three grand-daughters, Willow, Ruby and Luna. She will be remembered for her kindness, quirky sense of humor, and fierce independence even in her later years.

On Thu, Dec 23, 2021 at 9:12 AM Shanthi Kappagoda <shanthi.kappagoda@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Uncle,

Thank you for this kind note. It made me laugh :)  Yes, definitely so hard to stop her when she got started on something, especially fueled with tea. I am thinking of that today, as I - fueled with tea - am cleaning the window sills.

Best wishes to you and Aunty,

Love from Shanthi