Ron Pieris – A Man For All Seasons – March 6, 1946-April 11, 2024 – By Lawrence Machado
When you spoke to Ron Pieris, the conversation will always start and end with a wisecrack. Nothing was off limits for our Ron. A man who easily wore many hats at work and at home, the lanky Ron was always a joy to be with. Despite failing health in recent months, he never stopped his networking and was the first with the news, telling me about someone’s passing away or some great new deal he had spotted online.
Ron, who passed away suddenly of a suspected heart attack on Thursday morning (April 11), always made light of his ailments and joked about the serious things in life. He lived a full life and was proud of his hard-working wife, Joy, and children from his previous marriage, Ronny, Sean and Cheryl, speaking highly of their achievements.
He was also mightily proud of his Dad, Ronald Sr – a champion athlete at school who won an Asian gold medal – and his Mum Doreen de Silva, the long-serving principal of Althea College. His family lived in Wellawatte, and Ron Jr studied at St Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya, just like his Dad. He was a handy man and quick to learn things. He could take apart a computer and fix it. That was one of the many extra skills he learnt himself.
Ron migrated to Australia in 1974 and worked in a variety of jobs throughout his busy career. At St Peter’s, his classmate was Randy Peries, who went to become a famous musician, with the two pals reuniting in Sydney many years later. Ron, who shared many anecdotes about Randy, was devastated when the gifted musician passed away four years ago.
Ron wrote hard hitting comments on his Facebook page taking aim at politicians who did wrong, in his eyes, to the Australian people. He had a wicked sense of humour and quick ripostes to most of my social posts or emails. But he was not malicious, always saying, that,” Life is serious, mate, and we have to laugh, or else we will go mad.”
He knew I loved cats, so he would send me regular cat videos on Messenger and that was one of his many thoughtful things he did for all his friends and family members.
Ron was a caring and generous soul who was grateful for even the smallest things you did for him. His old school habits never left him and even to the end, he sent emails and messages to friends keeping them informed of things happening around Australia or back in Sri Lanka. He was a widely-read man, watched loads of films, and listened to hours of music. He enjoyed being among the musicians and played in a few bands too.
He wrote a few articles to eLanka, recounting his youth in Sri Lanka and Australia, like this one: https://www.elanka.com.au/a-migrants-story-by-ron-pieris/
During the height of #COVID19 when I was out of work, Ron got in touch with his friend Moses who runs the Sohas Charity organisation to deliver food stuff to us a couple of times. When I thanked him and said there are people worse off than us, Ron said: “Don’t worry, it is okay. Moses is a good friend. We all need help at one time of the other, brother.”
Ron was a volunteer for various organisations, including the Parramatta Council. He was an active member of the St Peter’s College OBU Sydney for many years – serving as secretary at one time -and attended AGMS and dances without fail. He loved a good thosai feed at Pendle Hill, catching up regularly with his friends, the late Randy Peiris and Darrel De Silva, another fantastic musician and former Peterite.
May your gentle soul rest safely in the Arms of Your Saviour Jesus Christ. You are reunited with your beloved parents in Heaven, where you will be playing your silly pranks and jokes on them and your many friends who are gathered there.
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Funeral arrangements have not been finalised at the time of writing.
https://www.elanka.com.au/a-migrants-story-by-ron-pieris/
https://www.elanka.com.au/a-migrants-story-by-ron-pieris/
