Born: Jaffna, Ceylon 1933.

Kathi Arunasalam passed away peacefully at North Shore Hospice, North Vancouver, B.C. Sunday May 7 at the age of 90.

Beloved husband of Thikalmathy (Radhi) of North Vancouver, formerly of Toronto. Loving father of Manjula (Jacques) Dufresne of North Van, Sahana (Hiran) Rajiyah (California), and Kalyani (Ray) Chung of Vancouver. Beloved grandfather of Krishnan, Uma, Nicolas, Sasha, Neelan and Jayan. Brother of Vani (Thirunavakarasu) of Toronto. Brother-in-law of S.Chandirakanthan (Belen) of Ohio and Shanthi Srikanthan of Colombo. Predeceased by brother A. Namasivayam and sister Thangamani, sisters-in-law Sathiabama Gunasingham and Wijeyalakshmi Tharmalingam, and brother-in-law S. Srikanthan. Lovingly remembered by nieces, nephews and friends all over the world.

Funeral Service at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, May 17 at the chapel, Forest Lawn funeral home, 3789 Royal Oak Ave, Burnaby, B.C.

Kathi lived a full and extraordinary life. Born in Jaffna, Ceylon in 1933, he saw his homeland overthrow centuries of colonial rule and overcame huge odds by getting an education and joining the foreign service. He served in Karachi, Washington, Bonn, London, Rio, Ottawa, Moscow and Cairo. As Sri Lanka went through civil war and divisive politics he ended his diplomatic career after being Ambassador to Egypt.

In 1986 he and Radhi decided to start all over again, immigrating to Canada, and eventually becoming fiercely proud Canadians. They bought their first home in a new subdivision in then rural Scarborough where the bus ran once every hour. He learned to type (always two fingers) and made a career writing speeches for the Ontario government. He was an avid gardener, channeling his farming roots, growing tropical vegetables like bitter melon and snake gourd in Toronto. He retired from his second career 15 years ago and moved to North Vancouver to be nearer to family including 4 of 6 grandchildren. He taught his three daughters the value of hard work and a social conscience. He was proud of his United Nations family. He took five years to write his memoirs, his lasting gift to the family and a hit at the seniors residence where he lived the last year of his life.

You will be missed by so many Appa. Love you. Thank you.

The family would like to thank the doctors, nurses and staff at Lions Gate Hospital and North Shore Hospice for outstanding care.