Roy Amarasuriya

Dr Roy Amarasuriya, age 88, was born in 1927 in Sri Lanka. He passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on April 12, 2016 in Long Beach, California after a brief illness. He was the loving husband of Dorothy for 55 beautiful years, devoted and proud father of sons Duleep and Rowan, doting grandfather of two beautiful granddaughters, dutiful son to father Lionel and mother Beatrice and loyal brother to siblings Pearl, Erica, Monica, Olga, Shelton, Lyn, June and Chintha.

Roy began his education, up to age 11, at Newstead Methodist school in Negombo, Sri Lanka. Roy loved Negombo, a small picturesque seaside town. For the rest of his life he would fondly recall his happy, idylic boyhood days spent there swimming in the lagoon, playing on the esplanade, exploring the old Dutch Fort and reading in the shade of the Banyan tree.

Roy attended St Thomas' College (high school) in Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka where he was both a prize-winning scholar and avid athlete. He was a track & field mile runner as well as a relay sprinter. He was a talented cricket left-arm "spin" bowler. He was captain of the field hockey team and a center forward on the soccer team. He was also an avid cadet scout.

Roy attended the Univ of Ceylon College of Medicine. He did fellowship training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Guy's Hospital London, King's College of Medicine.

Roy immigrated with his family to America in 1969 so his children could have a good education. He did residency training at Tucson Medical Center (TMC), Univ of Arizona School of Medicine. "Dr Roy," as he was fondly known around the hospital by patients, colleagues and staff, practiced medicine for 54 years and specialized in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R). He was a Staff Physician in the Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Dept at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Long Beach for 37 years from 1970 until his retirement in 2007. He was a caring and dedicated physician to his patients.

Despite all his academic and professional accomplishments, what made Roy the happiest and most proud was being a father to two sons. He cherished them and reveled in the experience, participating in every aspect of their lives. Roy especially loved watching his boys play sports and he could often be found sitting in the stands, day or night, for games and practices. He was the most incredible father a son could ever have.

Roy loved reading and had a passion for British literature, poetry and military history. He got a thrill from doing cross-country driving trips to visit Civil War battlefields, seeing the Old West and watching Old Western movies. He had a lifelong love of cricket and enjoyed discussing players and matches with his two brothers. In his spare time he loved spending time with his family and enjoyed long walks along the waterfront, going for outings and activities, attending sports matches, movies, music concerts and visiting museums. His greatest pleasure in retirement was going for weekend drives with his son Rowan to visit new, local places all around Southern California.

Roy had a kind, gentle, affectionate, jovial and loving nature. Never a day went by when he didn't tell his family he loved them very much. An Anglican Christian, he never failed to be dressed in a full suit and ready to attend church every Sunday. He lived a remarkable life and achieved much on his long journey from humble beginnings in a small town, in a small country to having the privilege of practicing medicine in Southern California. His entire family is so proud of all that he accomplished in his life and what an incredible, selfless human being he was. He will be deeply missed by all whose lives he has touched.