FORMER architect Vim Rodrigo will be remembered for his community campaigning and the buildings in Oxford he helped to design.

The Oxford pensioner lived in Rivermead Road in Rose Hill with his wife Christine.

He died on June 10, aged 87, at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford following a short illness.

Mr Rodrigo was a prolific letter writer and his letters appeared many times in the Oxford Mail, sharing opinions on everything from Brexit to local footpaths. He bought the paper every day.

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Vim Rodrigo was born in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, on June 19, 1932.

At the age of 20, in 1952, he moved from Sri Lanka to Oxford to take up a place at the Oxford School of Architecture.

It may have been his intention to return to Sri Lanka but he decided to make Oxford his permanent home instead.

Following a number of different roles, he joined the city council’s architects’ department in the early 1960s, where he remained until he retired in 1992.

Mr Rodrigo met his wife-to-be Christine in 1961 on May Morning and they married two years later at the city’s register office. They were together for 57 years.

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He was one of the first chairmen of Rose Hill Residents’ Association, was very outspoken, and often campaigned for the Rose Hill community.

Former city councillor Ruth Wilkinson, who also lives in Rose Hill, has paid tribute to Mr Rodrigo.

Posting on twitter she wrote: “Saddened to hear the news of the death of Vim Rodrigo, who campaigned for many years to defend the rights of Rose Hill residents in planning applications and changes to rights of way.

“Hailing from Sri Lanka originally, he was a voluminous letter writer to planners and the Oxford Mail.”

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Mr Rodrigo's letters appeared many times in the Oxford Mail and he was still writing them shortly before he died.

Ms Wilkinson’s husband Peter said he had known Mr Rodrigo, who had a background in architecture, for many years.

He said: “Rose Hill was a forgotten estate by many and it was largely down to him and couple of others that it got improvements.

“Over the years he really has done so much for this estate.”

John Green has also paid tribute to his friend Mr Rodrigo, pointing out that the city’s central library and Barton Community Centre were among the buildings he helped to design.

He said: “I first met Vim in 2000 when I was editor of No Contact, an unofficial council newsletter.

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“He was railing against Oxford University arbitrarily closing off a short cut from much of Rose Hill to Iffley through university land.

“Another issue which greatly animated Vim was the plight of the Chagos Islanders in the Indian Ocean, who were displaced from their homes in the 1960s.

“The second time I met him in 2002 was outside a private Labour Party meeting in Rose Hill.

“I told him he wouldn’t gain admission because he was not a party member – he replied ‘I will get in all right’ and sure enough he charmed his way in.”

Mr Green added that Mr Rodrigo could ‘talk for England’, something he discovered when they attended meetings of the South East Area Committee and the Rose Hill Tenants and Residents’ Association.

Oxford Mail:

He said: “It was hard to stop Vim once he got into his stride and when chair of the association I had to curtail his contributions otherwise we would have been there until midnight.

“Vim had a lot to say because he was so knowledgeable and with a staggering eye for detail.

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“He was a prolific contributor to this paper on a host of issues and his place in the pantheon of Oxford Mail letter writers is assured.

“Vim was old school, a true gentleman.

“It is his legacy as a wonderful human being that he will best be remembered for.”