Chanaka Wijewardana

Chanaka Wijewardana, 54, suddenly passed away on the 14th of September, 2022.

Chanaka was born on September 26, 1967 in Ragama, Sri Lanka. In 1975, he moved to Montreal, Canada with his father, mother and brother and after one year, they moved to “WinterPeg” and has called Winnipeg home for the last 46 years.

Chanaka grew up in St. James and attended Allard Elementary School, St Charles School, Hedges Junior High and graduated from John Taylor Collegiate in 1987. He was a competitive in track-and-field, long jump, 4x100 and volleyball. Throughout his childhood, he had made many life-long friendships and had many fond memories with them.

Chanaka started his own business in 2002, InksRus (previously known as NilDhi Office Systems), selling printer ink cartridges and toners - “cheaper than Staples, man”. He worked at the Health Sciences Centre for 10+ years and later at Winpak for 15+ years.

Chanaka was known to be a kind-hearted, free-spirited, outgoing and humble gentleman, who always had a huge smile on his face. He would lighten up any situation with his cheesy, infectious smile, his high energy, his laughter and his quick-witted humour. He was always down for a good time, not a long time. He would welcome anyone with open arms and was always giving to the less fortunate.

In his free time, Chanaka loved to spend time with his family and friends, spend a weekend at the cottage in Grand Beach, make chicken curry for his friends at his house, listen to Enrique Iglesias on repeat, and drive around Winnipeg in his Infinity G35 with the music on full blast. He always used his creative mind to start new projects for his business, his house or his cars.

Chanaka made new friends where ever he went and created many memorable stories. There was never a dull moment with him around - anyone who spent time with him always left with a smile on their faces.

He will be greatly missed by his family especially his two children: Dhimuth Thoshan and Nilusha Wijewardana, his parents: Sam and Shiela Wijewardana, his brother, Sam Jr., the family dog, Pepper Wijewardana and all his family and friends.

The service for Chanaka will be held at Thomson “In the Park” Funeral Home on Wednesday, September 21 at 2:00pm, with viewing at 1:00 pm. For those who wish to view the service virtually, please click on the following link https://youtu.be/VkSXHh5ymzs

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.thomsoninthepark.com for the WIJEWARDANA family.