Eddie D’Sa (extreme right) along with Roslyn Lobo during an event of the Goan Welfare Association-Merton on September 20, 1992.
LONDON
Eddie D’Sa, a mathematician and university lecturer hailing from Moira-Goa who had worked tirelessly to improve the lives of the Goan community in the London Borough of Merton for many decades passed away in London on August 26. He was 92.
The final rites took place at the Breakspear Crematorium in London on September 5 in the presence of his children, Roland and Shirley, family members and well-wishers.
Born in Kampala, Uganda, on January 6, 1933, to parents Colette and Napoleon, Eddie D’Sa was one of four children. His early primary education took place in Goa, before he transferred to Bombay to attend St Xavier’s primary and secondary schools and then St Xavier’s College.
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
He was a natural scholar and excelled at his subject, mathematics.
On graduating from St Xavier’s, he entered the teaching profession and taught maths and physics at the secondary school level in Nairobi, Kenya. Here he remained for a couple of years before gaining a scholarship to continue studies in the UK at the University of Leicester.
On completion of his BSc, Eddie returned to teach in Nairobi and Kisumu and, in 1962, married Cynthia. Together, they moved to Mombasa, where Eddie again taught at the secondary school, Aladina Visram School, before they returned to the UK to enable him to complete a PhD at Manchester University. There, they welcomed their first child, Roland, in 1964.
“My father’s PhD thesis was on a complex area of maths and physics called ‘Magnetohydrodynamics’, which is a combination of maths, fluid dynamics, electric currents, magnetism, etc., from the University of Manchester between August 1963 and July 1966,” said Roland.
“In addition, he completed a Diploma in Advanced Studies in Science (Distinction), done in Manchester alongside his PhD.”
On completing his PhD in applied maths in 1966, Eddie gained a position as a university lecturer at Makerere University in Kampala, but, as Cynthia was due to have their second child, she remained in the UK, staying with her sister Brenda in London until baby Shirley was born in 1967. Then, both she and Shirley joined Eddie and Roland in Kampala.
“While working at the University of Kampala-Uganda, he taught maths, and he introduced academic courses in computer science at that university. He applied excellent teaching methods and problem-solving techniques to help his students learn properly and achieve outstanding results,” said Roland.
The family remained in Kampala for some years before moving to Nairobi on Eddie’s appointment as senior lecturer at the University of Nairobi.
“Later on, he was supervising postgraduate students (MSc degrees), and he was called back from Nairobi as an external examiner to his former university in Kampala, Uganda,” Roland added.
His final professional move was to the University of Papua New Guinea, where he remained until his retirement.
Throughout his time as a secondary school teacher and university lecturer, Eddie both inspired and motivated his pupils. It is a testament to his skill and commitment during those years that his family has received letters of condolences from former students who remember with gratitude the impact he had on their education and the development of their careers.
SOCIAL OUTREACH
On retirement, Eddie decided to settle in Wimbledon, UK, in 1990, where he maintained an active interest in world events. He contributed regularly to online discussion forums and was not afraid to voice his opinion or to stand up for what he believed in.
He had a keen sense of fairness and firmly believed that everyone in society deserves the opportunity to access both education and the tools to make the best of their lives, regardless of their race or the social class or situation they are born into.
He underpinned his words with action, supporting a range of charitable organisations, and co-founding the Goan Welfare Association-Merton with Roslyn Lobo, which continued for about two decades.
“He pioneered abundant community support and assistance to help many Goans in Merton struggling with mental, emotional and physical health issues, loneliness, isolation, family discord and break-ups, etc.,” said Roland.
Together, Eddie and Roslyn worked tirelessly to improve the lives of the Goan community in the London Borough of Merton, establishing a strong network of support, a full programme of social activities. They also published a regular periodical, ‘The Goan Overseas Digest’.
“He also strived for social justice, equality, fairness, etc. for disadvantaged groups (e.g. poor countries, etc.) and always challenged the long-standing 'status quo' on many contentious issues. He never just "followed the crowd" and did what everyone else did because he always stood back and formulated his assessments from specialist information,” said Roland.
In later years, Eddie has been a source of inspiration to younger generations, and particularly to his grandchildren, who have admired his ready adoption of modern technology, his courage to stand up for his convictions and not blindly follow the crowd, and his unbridled thirst for knowledge.
“Such was his courage and fearless expression of his views that he was once banned from Twitter, something his grandchildren, Lisa, James and Joe found very impressive,” remarked Shirley.
