A neighbor gone

The tsunami has struck close to home. Though I did not know her, I have lost a neighbor. Her name was Tamara Mendis.

Hyde Park resident killed in catastrophe

December 28, 2004

BY ART GOLAB AND MAUREEN O'DONNELL Staff Reporters


A Hyde Park resident, the wife of an Evangelical Lutheran minister, became the first Chicagoan confirmed dead in the killer waves that struck South Asia Sunday.

Tamara Mendis and her daughter were passengers on a coastal train in Sri Lanka when the wave swept the train off the tracks. Mendis' daughter escaped the wreckage and called relatives to report her mother's death, said neighbor Bert Benade.

"She's the kind of person who is outgoing, interested in anybody and everybody else, a wonderful warm person," Benade said.

Mendis' death was also reported on a Christian Web site, Faithful America.org.

Her husband, Rev. Eardly Mendis, is the pastor of the Purna Jiwan South Asian Ministry, which is part of the Norwood Park Evangelical Lutheran Church on the Far Northwest Side. He has departed for Sri Lanka, Benade said.

Mendis, a native Sri Lankan, was in the country with her daughter attending a family gathering. A Hyde Park resident for about six years, Mendis was a gardener and active volunteer in the annual Hyde Park Garden Fair, which raises money to place flowers and plants throughout the community.

"All of us in that garden fair are crying on each other's shoulders," said Benade.

Mendis also prepared lunch once a week for students at the University of Chicago Divinity School. "She cooked Sri Lankan food and they loved her for it," Benade said.

A neighbor gone

The tsunami has struck close to home. Though I did not know her, I have lost a neighbor. Her name was Tamara Mendis.

Hyde Park resident killed in catastrophe

December 28, 2004

BY ART GOLAB AND MAUREEN O'DONNELL Staff Reporters


A Hyde Park resident, the wife of an Evangelical Lutheran minister, became the first Chicagoan confirmed dead in the killer waves that struck South Asia Sunday.

Tamara Mendis and her daughter were passengers on a coastal train in Sri Lanka when the wave swept the train off the tracks. Mendis' daughter escaped the wreckage and called relatives to report her mother's death, said neighbor Bert Benade.

"She's the kind of person who is outgoing, interested in anybody and everybody else, a wonderful warm person," Benade said.

Mendis' death was also reported on a Christian Web site, Faithful America.org.

Her husband, Rev. Eardly Mendis, is the pastor of the Purna Jiwan South Asian Ministry, which is part of the Norwood Park Evangelical Lutheran Church on the Far Northwest Side. He has departed for Sri Lanka, Benade said.

Mendis, a native Sri Lankan, was in the country with her daughter attending a family gathering. A Hyde Park resident for about six years, Mendis was a gardener and active volunteer in the annual Hyde Park Garden Fair, which raises money to place flowers and plants throughout the community.

"All of us in that garden fair are crying on each other's shoulders," said Benade.

Mendis also prepared lunch once a week for students at the University of Chicago Divinity School. "She cooked Sri Lankan food and they loved her for it," Benade said.