Bedgar Perera
DR. REX CLEMENTS ..… Sept. 8, 2023 was a very sad day for the 1964-68 batch of the Faculty of Agriculture of the then University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, as that was the day on which Dr. Rex Clements, our batchmate and friend passed away in Australia owing to a lung infection he was suffering from, for some time.
Rex was born on April 2, 1945 at Moray Group, Maskeliya to Victor and Stella Clements, and had his entire primary and secondary education at Christian College, Kotte. He entered the then University of Ceylon, Peradeniya to pursue a degree in Agriculture and was one of the 23 of the batch of 1964-68 to join the Faculty of Science, for the General Science Qualifying (GSQ) course, in order to continue onward to the Faculty of Agriculture the following year, for the undergraduate course in agriculture.
I thought of penning this appreciation in memory of Rex on behalf of our batch, with whom he was regularly in touch via whatsapp and email. He also attended a few of our get-togethers when he was around. Rex was a very friendly, jovial, carefree and down to earth character, who was a thorough gentleman.
He loved music and sports very much and at the same time was academically brilliant, which is a rare combination. As the brightest spark among our group, he topped the batch scoring a record 13 distinctions (out of 14) and ended up with a first class, then a very rare feat in the Faculty of Agriculture.
Soon after the results were out in late 1968, Rex was appointed as an Assistant Lecturer in Crop Science in the Faculty Agriculture (along with our batch-mate Noble Jayasuriya, who got a second upper).
In 1970 Rex proceeded to the United Kingdom to read for his Ph.D at the University of Reading, Berkshire, in his chosen field of Agronomy and Crop Science with emphasis on Crop Physiology. (Noble too joined him there and read for his Ph.D in Animal Physiology).
Rex returned in 1974 and continued as a Senior Lecturer in Crop Science to both undergraduate and postgraduate students at the Faculty of Agriculture till 1982 and in the intervening period, in 1980, he joined the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Banos, in the Philippines, as a Post Doctoral Research Fellow and continued his cherished research activities in rice-based cropping systems. It was understood that this in fact was in preference to a postdoctoral offer he received from Lincoln College, New Zealand.
After his return in March 1982, from this research stint at IRRI, which Rex loved very much, he was appointed as the Head of the Department of Crop Science of the Faculty of Agriculture where he continued till 1986. He was a brilliant teacher who was always very friendly with the students and liked very much for his exemplary teaching style. Rex had a unique way of using the blackboard and students admired his way of teaching and his pleasing manner.
The adventurous and travel crazy man that he was, after serving the Faculty of Agriculture for 18 long years, Rex said goodbye and joined the University of South Pacific, Alafua Campus, Western Samoa in 1986, as Head of the Department of Crop Science. He continued there till 1989, by which time his focus changed to Australia, where in 1989, he found a fresh billet as a Senior Lecturer at the Victorian College of Agriculture and Horticulture of the Glenormiston Campus, which was taken over by the University of Melbourne in 1991. Rex continued working there till about 2012.
From 2014 onward, he, started working as a Consultant/Independent Contractor for South West TAFE, one of the largest regional training providers in Victoria, Australia, ideally located in Warrnambool, where Rex had made his “home sweet home” and resided with his everloving family. He continued his work there, till illness got the better of him.
As an undergrad at Peradeniya, Rex was an accomplished musician, the vocalist and guitarist of the batch and a key figure in the three-man band (from our batch) named the ‘Agricolas’ along with Noble and Piya/Piyadasa. They were often invited to the Halls of Residence for their annual socials. The organizers provided a sumptuous dinner and the band played popular English and Sinhala songs, especially local oldies, keeping the crowds happy.
Rex was also a talented badminton player who played for the Peradeniya University in 1967 and 1968, obtaining University colours.
All of us from the batch of 64-68 sorely miss Rex. We could not physically attend the funeral service of our dear friend which was held on September 18, 2023, at Warrnamboo.
Rex is survived by his beloved wife Jenny, son Jeremy, daughter Romina and two adorable grand kids, plus his siblings who live in South India.
May the soul of our dear Rex rest with God Almighty.
Bedgar Perera on behalf of the Peradeniya University Agriculture batch of 1964-68
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