USHA WELARATNA, Ph.D.

APRIL 28, 1948 - MAY 23, 2022

Sripalee Usha Bandaratilaka Welaratna was born to the late Charles Octavius Loku Bandara and Nancy Margarita (Rita) Bandaratilaka, a customs officer and a dressmaking establishment owner, in Colombo, Sri Lanka on April 28, 1948. She grew up with her two brothers and six sisters in Nawala, Rajagiriya, a suburb of Colombo, where she attended Visakha Vidyalaya, the National Buddhist Girls’ College. There, she developed her love for the arts and cultural traditions of her home country as well as an appreciation for Western popular music of the day, both of which she carried with her when she emigrated to Great Britain in 1971 to join her husband-to-be. It was the start of a varied and adventurous career, although she may not have suspected it at the time.

Usha and her husband Sri Ramya Welaratna spent nine years in England, residing in Bradford, London, and Reading respectively, and had a child in each city before emigrating to California, USA in 1979. They settled in Los Altos, CA where she raised her three children while writing children’s stories and general interest articles for publication and teaching English as a Second Language to young learners.

In 1986, Usha attended university for the first time. She first enrolled at San Jose State University where she distinguished herself by skipping her B.A. to go directly to obtaining her M.A. in Cultural Anthropology. Her graduate thesis, titled Beyond the Killing Fields: Voices of Nine Cambodian Survivors in America, won the university-wide graduate thesis award and was published by Stanford University Press in 1993. She obtained her Ph.D. from the University at California, Berkeley in 1999 where her doctoral research focused on inter-ethnic conflict in inner-city Long Beach. She went on to teach at institutions including UC Berkeley, Mills College, Stanford University, and San Jose State University.

During this time, Usha was also active in several cultural and faith-based communities. She served as Vice-President of the Cambodian American Resource Agency from 1998 to 2001 and as President and co-founder of the Sri Lankan American Cultural Association, which organizes arts and cultural programs for the Bay Area Sri Lankan community, from 2000 to 2006.

A lifelong Buddhist, Usha also studied meditation and the teachings of the Dhamma. Following the 2004 tsunami, Usha traveled to Sri Lanka to document the societal and psychological impacts of the event as well as the disaster recovery and relief efforts along the Southern coast of Sri Lanka. Upon her retirement from academic teaching, she drew on this research when she began offering classes in mindfulness meditation and memory training. Her students came from all walks of life and ranged from young children to the elderly.

Throughout her life, and especially exemplified by her work, Usha worked with and befriended people from all walks of life with a fearlessness that perhaps surprised even herself from time to time. She connected with many survivors of physical and emotional trauma and provided immediate relief (money, clothes, food) as well as neuroscience-informed classes and tools for mental and emotional wellbeing. Her research provided valuable contributions to students in her field, and she continuously strived to provide a platform for those whose voices may have gone unheard. Alongside her professional accomplishments, Usha also loved cooking, gardening, a weekly game of Scrabble with friends, and had a strong sense of style. Her generous nature, sense of joy and playfulness, and willingness to speak her mind endeared her to so many! She will be greatly missed by family and friends.

Usha is survived by her son Ruwan; her daughters Sumudu and Deepthi; her former husband Sri; her sisters Shiranee, Rajini, Aloka, and Radha; her brothers Rohith and Ravi; and a great number of nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her sisters Srikanthi and Srimanee.

DONATIONS

Usha was a strong supporter of the following efforts. If moved to do so, please support them with a donation:

• Camarillo Buddhist Temple

• Ven. Chandananda Thero’s Education Fund

  • Wire donations to:
    Kirinde Chandananda
    Bank of America
    Account number: 325118377944
    Routing number: 121000358
    Donations will go to the Dhammaloka Buddhist Center, Inc. 3633 W Jensen Ave Fresno CA 93706.

• Dharmapala Institute

• Hospital Services Support Foundation

• A charity of your choice