Obituary of Constantine Herbert Fernando

Constantine Herbert Fernando was born on April 4, 1929 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, or Ceylon as it was then known. He was the 8th child of MJ and Matilda and became known as “Herbie Baba”. He lived in a large bustling house in the Colombo suburb of Nugegoda with large gardens full of fruit trees and a dairy. He would say he liked to “loaf around” meaning he was more apt to want to look in a stream or play in a rice field with friends rather than be a diligent student. Little did he know that this was the beginning of his future research on rice field ecology. In the latter years of secondary school he started to apply himself and get good grades. He went to the University of Ceylon in Colombo as a Zoology major and excelled in his studies. Herbert achieved the highest ranking of any graduating student in the biological sciences, and on that basis was in 1953 awarded a scholarship to study at Oxford for his PhD.  He took the long ship ride to England and eventually made his way to Christ Church College at Oxford, and a whole new world opened up to him. He did his PhD on aquatic insects at the Hope Department of Entomology, under the supervision of Professor G. C. Varley. He went to lectures in many other disciplines as well, bought lots of great second hand books in history, philosophy and great literature, enjoyed going to Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, seeing snow for the first time, and going on collecting trips on his bicycle. He was a popular and gregarious student and made some life long friends over shared meals and cider.  He returned home in 1956 and became an Assistant Lecturer in Zoology at the University of Ceylon at Colombo and reconnected with an old friend Aggie Olivelle, who had just graduated from medical school, and she soon became more than a friend.  He described her as “pretty, vivacious and easy to talk to” and also one of the smartest people he knew. She describes him as handsome, lively, happy and a man who never wanted to let go of her hand.  They became engaged and then married on April 26, 1957 in All Saint’s Church in Colombo but skipped their reception to start touring around Ceylon during a happy honeymoon. A little over a year later on July 21, 1958 they had their first child Joseph Laksiri and the next year daughter Mary Lilamani was born on September 16th. In December of that year the family took a ship to Singapore so Herbert could take up a post as a University of Singapore lecturer in the Department of Zoology. Herbert loved Singapore and often spoke of it as one the best times in his life. A cosmopolitan city-state with wonderful food, diverse colleagues, and a relaxed way of life. Aggie worked in the medical school and did a PhD in parasitology. While he enjoyed Singapore he felt the pull of home and the family moved back to Colombo in February 1964. Herbert started working a government job at the Ceylon Fisheries Department and they settled in Nugegoda and built a house. Again Herbert became restless and decided to return to academics but chose a new adventure in North America and accepted a job in Waterloo, Canada which was a place neither he nor Aggie had ever heard of. In July 1965 they set off with Aggie expecting their 3rd child Shanti Irene. They arrived in Waterloo and Herbert started a job as an Associate Professor in the Biology Department in the then 5 year old University of Waterloo. Aggie gave birth to Shanti on September 8, 1965 and in early 1966 began working as an Assistant Professor at the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph. They settled in to life in Waterloo with Herbert being the “Chief Cook” and having weekly dinner parties with friends and hosting visitors and colleagues from all over the world. Herbert also used Waterloo as a home base to begin a life of travelling the world and connecting with academics in many countries. One of his favourite places in the 1970s was Czechoslovakia where he made many of his closest friends and learned to drink slivovitz and pilsner. In the 1980s his new favourite country was Brazil and Herbert also spent a memorable sabbatical in Australia in 1981-1982 when he toured the entire country for over six months and developed a taste for Australian wine. Throughout the years until he retired in 1998 Herbert travelled to every province and visited every continent except Antarctica spanning at least 50 countries. He settled into retirement by travelling with Aggie to Egypt and the Panama Canal as well as taking the train across Canada. In the last 10 years of his life Herbert slowed down as his mobility and health began to be compromised. He enjoyed his home and visits from his family including his six grandchildren and Shanti’s dog Spencer until his last year when dementia took away some of his enjoyment of life.

Herbert was a man full of life, who lived a very full life. In his scientific work, he ranged from his original study of aquatic insects, to fish, to parasites, to the study of zooplankton, the tiny animals in lake water that are just specks to the naked eye. He described many new species. He was one of the first to push for the introduction of tilapia, a staple fish for many now, because of its resilience and high yield. During a long and distinguished career in science, Herbert published over 250 papers and edited 6 books. He illustrated his own papers with wonderful drawings of many animals, including the strange creatures that make up the zooplankton that he saw through his microscope. He was an accomplished singer, and would pick up folk songs during his travels, which he would then sing during parties in various parts of the world. He loved parties, which gave full scope to both his singing and dancing urges, and his talents as a raconteur. He loved to cook, and not only cooked most of the weekday dinners for the family, but also travelled with a collection of spices, the better to cook up the hot and flavourful curries which are still things of legend among the people of the various countries he visited. He kept up an enormous correspondence with colleagues, friends, and relatives from all over the world. He answered every letter he got on the day he got it. Herbert was a voracious reader of the classics, modern literature, history, and much else. The wide range of his interests, represented in all the books he bought in the second-hand bookshops of Oxford, inspired his children in their pursuits. Herbert, perhaps not surprisingly for someone of such prodigious energy and large character, struggled with his moods, which could swing up and down. He managed the downs by plunging into travels, work, and other pursuits – not the worst way to deal with these problems! Everyone has some demons like this, and what marks out our lives is partly the distinctive ways in which we manage to make something of them. Herbert Fernando certainly made quite a lot of them, both in the quantity and the variety of his pleasures and pursuits.  

Constantine Herbert Fernando, April 4, 1929 – September 18, 2018. Survived by his loving wife, Mary Agnes Fernando (b. 1931), and his children Joseph Laksiri Fernando (b. 1958, wife Sue Hausler, and their children Jonathan, Kiri, Nicky and Rosie), Mary Lilamini Fernando (b. 1959, husband Brian Lynn, and their children Michael and Emma), and Shanti Irene Fernando (b. 1965). A memorial and celebration of life will be held on Saturday, October 13, 2018 at 1pm, reception to follow, at the Erb & Good Family Funeral Home, 171 King St S, Waterloo, Ontario, www.erbgood.com or (519) 745-8445.

Those who knew Herbert and wish to honour him can consider donating to the environmental charity of their choice, in order to help protect the natural world that Herbert spent his life studying and trying to understand, and that today is in so much trouble.