To Our Departing President

Dr. Jeyalingam has had the unique distinction of serving three consecutive terms as president of the Ilankai Thamil sangam. He accomplished this "unconstitutional" feat with our unstinting approval.

The high point of his administration has been the remarkable advance in the information dissemination network that the sangam has developed. He, with the able assistance of his committee has accomplished what was a dream in the eyes of presidents past. We can now get the information out to politicians, media, and to others of importance faster and more efficiently than ever before.

This is not to detract from his having led the Sangam’s activities in reaching out to politicians both here in the US, and abroad, spearheading the refugee fund, and arranging many special events at his home when a meeting with a person of significance was called for. His wife Rani outdid herself as a generous hostess on all such occasions.

In addition to these accomplishments, the routine day-to-day tasks of the sangam moved along smoothly, and without moment.

We did not get an opportunity at the annual meeting to express our gratitude and congratulations, for a role outstandingly performed. May this brief and heartfelt tribute make up for that oversight. We remain confident that he will continue to be active for many more years to come. We will need the benefit of his experience, and the advantage of the contacts he has made while he was president, to continue to function effectively, and bring us into the millennium that is about to dawn.

Varun: Naveena & Tharmarajah Pathmakumar of Yonkers (NY) were blessed with a son on 8.28.96.

CONGRATUALTIONS

OBITUARIES

Mary Olivia Somanader: beloved mother of Geetha Iswera , Kala Gnanasegaram, Dhaya Prabaharan and Niranjan Somanader passed away on 25 Jan 1997. Funeral took place in Staten Island (NY) on 29 Jan.

Mohandas K. Samuel: husband of Utaiwan, father of Montira (Canada), Manasavee (Poughkeepsie, NY) and Maithri (Claremont, CA), eldest son of J.M.G. Samuel and Mrs. Rasamanie Samuel, brother of Chandra and Peter (UK) and Indran (Pasadena, CA) brother-in-law of Dr. Rajeswaran, Lalitha and Mercy expired on 8 Feb 1997. The funeral took place in South London.

Dorothy Thangaratnam: wife of the late William Navaratnam of Erlalai, father of Pathma Perinabanayagam (UK), Dr.N.S. Navabalachandran (Cumberland, MD), Ranee Wijayanayagam (British Virgin Islands) and N.J.Thavabalachandran (Australia) on 14 Feb 1997.