Walter Muthu Banda Amunugama, father of Minister Sarath Amunugama, who passed away on Friday at the ripe old age of 101, was known as the ‘miler’ during his youth and never lost a race.

He revealed this during an interview, in March 2006, with The Sunday Times (probably his last meeting with the media) when his wife, Soma, turned 100. It was a rare interview for he was 98 at the time and she had reached a century. Although the couple’s hair had turned silver, the minds were lucid. Walter was witty, while Soma was full of repartee.

Walter’s interview with The Sunday Times in 2006

When the newspaper met the sprightly couple at their ‘Maha Gedera’ in Nugawela, near Katugastota in the presence of their relatives during a celebratory event to mark Soma’s 100th birthday, the family including Minister Amunugama recalled the couple’s life story of integrity, sincerity and service. The couple and their family cherished The Sunday Times article so much that it hangs framed in the ‘Maha Gedera’, according to grand-daughter Varuni, a successful advertising executive.

Taken under the wing of an uncle, H.B. Ellepola, one of the first Sinhala Inspectors of Police, Walter had flourished at St. John’s Panadura, where his latent talents in sports came to the fore, making him an all-Ceylon athlete, never losing one-mile races.

School career over, he joined the Army, under the colonial government, as a second lieutenant and was posted to Trincomalee during World War II. Later demobilized, he became a teacher, saying ‘no’ to a career in the police because a teacher’s salary was Rs. 5 and higher than that of a sub-inspector.

Marrying Soma, a beautiful girl in Akiriyagala, off Kegalle from the respected Nilmalgoda clan, in 1937, they set up home bringing up a family of two sons and one daughter, amidst their dedicated duty, firstly as teachers and later principals. Walter, though generous and kind, always spoke his mind.

“When I switched parties (from the UNP to the UPFA), there was an election at the time. Walking back after voting, when my father was asked whom he voted for, the answer was: ‘Api nam hemadama aliyata ne’,” recalled a smiling Minister Amunugama.

Even during their long retirement years, their home had always been open to all and sundry, the farmers who worked their paddy fields, the students who had passed through their hands, their relatives and in more recent times the supporters and seekers of help from their son Sarath and grandson Dilum involved in politics. Their social work was wide and varied and many were the villagers who learnt to sign their names instead of using their fingerprints.

For 103-year-old Soma, the journey with Walter that lasted a lifetime ended on June 5, when he bade goodbye to her. But consolation lies in the fact that what he stood for lives on in their two sons, daughter, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

His funeral takes place at Mahaiyawa, Kandy at 3 p.m. tomorrow (Monday).