Car crash killed B.C. patriarch

A Vancouver, B.C., patriarch who died in a head-on collision on Interstate 5 five days ago was a devout Hindu who immigrated from the Fiji Islands and worked several jobs at a time to help bring his eight grown siblings to B.C.

The Washington State Patrol thinks the driver of the other car, 19-year-old Paul Lux of Shelton, Mason County, may have been drinking before his car, headed the wrong way in the southbound lanes of I-5, crashed into Armugam Naidu's sport-utility vehicle early Saturday near Lacey, Thurston County.

The accident killed Lux, Naidu and Naidu's son-in-law, Ranjan de Silva, 34, also of Vancouver. Naidu's daughter, Sita de Silva, 27, remains in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with a spinal injury, while granddaughter Taja de Silva, 2, was treated at St. Peter Hospital in Olympia and released.

"It's just a shock to the family now," said Naidu's sister-in-law, Radha Naidu of Surrey, B.C.

Naidu and his family were headed south from Vancouver to spend the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday with relatives in Eugene when the vehicles collided shortly before 3 a.m.

Relatives said Naidu, 58, had worked as a janitor, furniture upholsterer and most recently as a bank security guard to help provide for his extensive family.

"He was just like a father to everyone," said his sister-in-law. "He had a very important role in the family."

He returned to the Fiji Islands in 1970 to marry. The marriage was arranged, but he and his wife, Gangumma, fell in love, his sister-in-law said.

Ranjan de Silva grew up in Sri Lanka and Hong Kong. After earning the equivalent of a master's degree in chemical engineering from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London, he moved to Canada, said his father, Ranjit de Silva.

An information technologist for a subsidiary of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, he met his future wife in 1993 while both worked at a restaurant. They wed in 1995.

"They always liked to surprise each other," said Radha Naidu. "One instance is they dressed up nicely for dinner, but he knew she liked to go to the opera. So he surprised her and took her to the opera.

"He would always buy flowers for her. Not on special occasions, but always.''

Born and raised in Canada, Sita de Silva graduated with a medical-assistance degree from the British Columbia Institute of Technology and works in customer service at the Royal Bank of Canada.

Much like her father, she never forgets the birthdays and celebrations of her numerous nieces and nephews, Radha Naidu said.

"She's very charming and very friendly," she said. "She's always there for everybody; she always remembers everyone in the family."

Taja de Silva was born almost three years ago. Friendly and talkative, the "little princess" had a special relationship with her father, Naidu said.

"She'd wait for Daddy to come home from work. And when she was sick with the flu, she wanted her daddy," she said. "Sita, she'd always say, 'Oh, yeah, you're just a daddy's girl.' "

Lux, who graduated from Cascade High School in Everett last year, had gone to Everett to see friends, said Wade Winters, manager of Discount Tire in Lacey, where Lux worked as a tire technician. A co-worker dropped him off at his car, which was parked at work, and he was planning to drive home.

Remembered as outgoing, athletic and thoughtful, he was planning to attend community college this winter and hoped to become a journalist.

Sgt. John Anderson, the detective in charge of the State Patrol's major-accident investigations, said alcohol containers were found in Lux's car. Toxicology tests won't be completed for several weeks.

Gina Kim can be reached at 206- 464-2761 or gkim@seattletimes.com.