Milestone Birthday Celebrations – ALGIE – a Centurion in the Making!!
Source : Thomiana September 2024
By the grace of God, Algie Stonehewer will be celebrating his 100th Birthday on 7th October 2024, with his close family and friends. After attending a boarding school in Badulla in his early years, Algie joined STC Mount Lavinia for a period of 8 years (1934 – 1942). His father being a Tea Planter in the Uva Province (Kahagalla Estate), Algie was in the boarding (Claughton House) during his entire time at College. As with most boarders, sport normally takes prominence over studies and Algie was no exception. He played a multitude of sports – including soccer, hockey, athletics, swimming, boxing and fives; and captained the Hockey team and joint-captain of Athletics. On the academic side, unsurprisingly his favourite subjects were English Language and English Literature. He recollected with gratitude Canon R.S. De Saram who was the Warden during his time.
As with most schoolboys (and Masters), Algie too had a unique nickname. He was reluctant to reveal this as, according to him, it would be unfit for publication!! Yes… your
guess is good as mine!! Some of his contemporaries that came to his mind were Sam Elapata, Upali Katugaha, E.D. Cotelingam and Oscar Wijesinghe.
After leaving College, he joined the Army for 4 years and then moved to the Police, in the MI-5 unit, where he served for 9 years and had the distinction of being the Royal Bodyguard during the visit of Queen Elizabeth to Ceylon in 1954. He later joined the Ceylon Tobacco Company in Kandy; and was actively involved with the Kandy Sports Club where he served as Secretary in the 1960s till, he migrated to Australia.
Algie married his childhood sweetheart, Heather, an Old Girl from our sister school (Bishops College), in 1951 with the marriage ceremony conducted by Canon De Saram at St. Michaels’ Church, Polwatte. Followed by a reception at the Galle Face Hotel. Algie and Heather were renowned for their ballroom dancing skills and won several prizes in Sri Lanka.
The Stonehewer family (Algie, wife Heather and daughters Jennifer and Gillian) migrated to Australia in 1967 and called Melbourne their new home Down Under. After serving for 1 year with the Victorian Police, he worked at the State Electricity Commission (SEC) until his retirement in 1990.
Algie, with a group of other old Thomians, first initiated the idea of the establishment of an OBA in Australia, which finally came to fruition in 1972. Algie was an active member of the OBA for many decades supporting its numerous activities. He has also been involved the activities of the Freemasons, ACF and the 80 Club.
Algie and Heather now spend their retirement at their family home in Glen Waverley supported by their two daughters, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Editor’s note: This article was written following an interview by two OBA members – Arasu Saravanamuttu and Upali Gooneratne. We wish to express our appreciation to Gillian and Richard Emerson for initiating this visit.
