Tribute to my Big Sister, a crusader and a Friend-Late,Chief Catherine Olufunmilayo Onitiri JP
FUNMI, as we fondly called her. I rejoice in the Lord because I know you have departed to sit with Jesus as joint Heirs in the Kingdom of God-Hallelujah!
Your passing over struck me like a thunderbolt out of nowhere and left me in total devastation and disbelief.
None of us had the slightest incline or premonition that the Lord would call you up in this manner. We had hoped for your full recovery. After a confirmatory autopsy conducted by the United Kingdom coroner, the conclusions relayed remained unexplained circumstances.
No doubt, posterity will judge the circumstances relating to your passing and prove otherwise,
On hindsight, I believe you felt you have achieved the ultimate objective of raising a happy and loving family,as demonstrated by the beautiful gift of love that you gave us in relentless effort to find a cure for Malaria and to build affordable homes in West Africa.
Your demise is a big loss to me personally, my wife and our children, and the intellectual community. Your place in our lives will be difficult to fill without the grace of God.
You have been an outstanding mentor within the social, economic and philanthropist community,a woman of high integrity, great role model and pillar of strength for us all.
No doubt, you had a great, and deep love for the Lord.
As I was writing this tribute to a dear friend and sister it brought a lot of good memories to me of the good times we shared together:
As a Crusader, you hated injustice of any sort. You harbored no malice against anybody. If and when you were offended,you would tell the person there and then. And it is finished.
You do not have to know the person to fight for justice for them. You would pursue justice to any level for others with your time and own money. You cared selflessly for others to your own detriment.
My dear Sister, you had no time to brood over anything. You simply say “We shall Overcome” I now know why. You are a lady to the core.
Now that Time and Space separate us, we take comfort in this:
Time is too Slow for those who Wait, too Swift for those who Fear, too Long for those who Grieve, too Short for those who Rejoice, but for those who Love, time is Eternity.
Because we love you, your love will heal our wounds and comfort us. Your dreams to unite the Onitiri Family and to build a better tomorrow will be remembered by us in our daily prayers.
Good Night,my partner in the faith and dear friend.
