www.everygeneration.co.uk Empowering and influencing the black community through history, family genealogy and heritage.

Supported by the Musician Ronnie Laws

Tributes to those who died on 7th July



Motherland
People in Harmony logo
Destination Brixton Logo

Tiscali logo

Ethnic Minds logo

 CONTENTS

Home

About Us

Family Tree

Genealogy

Web Design Service

Heritage Networkers

Guest of The Month

Book Club

Profiles and Historians

Events

Folk Stories

Blue Plaques Scheme

Missing Persons

Yesterday People

The Lost Windrush

Motherland

2004 Gambia Roots Festival


Useful Links



 

 

Ojara Ikeagwu

In the last five years, social worker Ojara Ikeagwu had helped hundreds of adults with learning difficulties.
During her tenure with Hounslow social services in west London, the mother-of-three from Luton drew admiration for her dedication.
She was based in the community, at the Berkeley Centre in Heston.
On 7 July, she caught a train to King's Cross station, from where she usually took the Piccadilly Line Tube to get to work.
The 56-year-old died in the explosion which claimed the lives of 26 others.
'Highly committed'
Mrs Ikeagwu was of Nigerian descent and had lived in Luton for 25 years.
Judy Smart, head of care management at the Berkeley Centre, said: "Ojara had her own inimitable style of work with service users, parents and carers, and was highly committed to the learning disability service."
At home in Luton Mrs Ikeagwu did voluntary work, especially among the Nigerian community.
She is survived by her husband, a retired doctor, Okorasor Ikeagwu, and their three adult children.

 

 

Arthur Frederick (no picture available)

Arthur Frederick, a former member of the Montserrat Royal police force and musician died in the blast near Kings Cross. We have not placed his photograph here at the request of his family.

A suicide bomber may have claimed his life aboard a Piccadilly line train, but Arthur Frederick's voice still resonates around Montserrat, his Caribbean island home of over three decades.

Mr Frederick's hit calypso, Signs of Christmas, is still played on local radio station ZJB, many years after it was recorded. But calypso was merely his hobby, albeit a highly acclaimed one. Mr Frederick was a member of the Royal Montserrat police force, earning the rank of station sergeant during a 31-year career which concluded with his retirement in 1998.

Troubled by the violent Soufrière Hills volcano eruption, Mr Frederick left Montserrat, a British overseas territory, where his son Astrid Wade still works as a firefighter, and moved to London.

He worked as a museum security guard, and lived in Seven Sisters.

Mr Frederick had recently returned from his country of origin, Grenada, where he had spent several weeks helping his elderly parents, Waldon and Cynthia, rebuild a home severely damaged by Hurricane Ivan. He also leaves behind a brother, Albert, in the United States.

Montserrat's police commissioner, John Douglas, said: "This has all come as very sad news. He was a very jovial chap who will always be remembered for his wonderful calypso singing and his discipline as a police officer."

Known variously as Soul, Vision, Napo and Otis - references to his musical talents - Mr Frederick was also known for his sporting prowess, particularly in track and field events.
Alex Brown

Tribute

My father was well respected in the Montserrat community, which he served as a policeman for almost 32 years. Since his death, a lot of people here have been talking about him.

He was also a well known calypsonian. We hadn't been especially close since he moved to London, but I know he had been in Grenada until eight days before his death, helping out his parents.
Astrid Wade, son

 

 

Gladys Wundowa

The death of Gladys Wundowa, 50, prompted a visit from the president of her native Ghana at her family home in Chadwell Heath, Essex.
The mother-of-two died from injuries sustained on the number 30 bus in Tavistock Square.
President John Kufuor, on his way back to Ghana from an official visit to Jamaica, shared his condolences with her husband, Emmanuel, their 16-year-old daughter Azuma, son Zakari, 14, and other relatives and friends.

On 7 July, Mrs Wundowa, who had lived in London for 18 years, finished her cleaning job in the department of civil and environmental engineering at University College London at 0900 BST and was heading towards Hackney on the bus.
Ghana burial
Her husband, an architect, watched the news on television and became concerned when his wife failed to arrive home.
After three days of searching, the family received confirmation that she was dead.

Speaking to the Barking and Dagenham Post, Mr Wundowa said: "Gladys would give you her last dime if she thought that would make you okay. She was very bubbly and very helpful.
"If you had a problem, she would drop everything to make sure you were all right.
"It's awful for such a person to die in this way. I could take it if she'd fallen sick, but to go to work one day and end up dying like this - it's something I can't comprehend."
Mrs Wundowa, who was a charity worker and a housing management student at Hackney College, is to be buried in Ghana.

Anthony Fatayi-Williams

(from Guardian Unlimited)

Anthony Fatayi-Williams was born in London on January 29 1979 and spent his childhood between Britain and Lagos, Nigeria, where his family still lives. His mother, a Catholic, is a senior executive with Elf Total Petroleum and his father, a Muslim, is one of Nigeria's leading medical practitioners. He had two younger sisters. He was educated at Sevenoaks school, the Cambridge Centre for Sixth Form Studies and the British School of Paris, and graduated from Bradford University in 2001 with a degree in economics and politics. His friend Florentina Emanuel, who met him at sixth form, described him as "ambitious, charismatic, charming and reliable". She added: "I'm sure he's now in heaven laughing in astonishment about how he has touched the lives of so many people."

Mr Fatayi-Williams joined the engineering group Amec as a graduate trainee in January 2002. Emma Bowler, who joined at the same time, remembers him as "the most creative, dynamic person I've ever met. Anthony had big ideas and great plans about what he wanted to do. He was the kind of person who made things happen".

A year ago, he became a regional executive developing new business in Africa. His colleague Fran Allan, who sat next to him at the company's office in Old Street, described him as a "lovely guy" and a creature of habit who would always begin the day with a big bowl of fruit. "He always shared it around because he wanted us to have our vitamin C," she said.

His boss, Richard Jenkins, said: "Anthony was superb. He came from a very successful family and he wanted his parents to be proud of him. They should be because he was one of the stars of the company." The 26-year-old, who lived in Hendon, north London, was studying towards an MBA through distance learning with Durham University. Mr Jenkins said he had eventually hoped to "give something back" to Nigeria. "He wanted to try to use what he had learned working and studying in England to help the country. I have absolutely no doubt that he would have done it."

Tributes

"Anthony and I were friends at the British School of Paris in our teens. Having a friend like Anthony made those turbulent teenage years a lot more fun than they would have been otherwise. Anthony was an honourable, loyal, upright man, who obviously inherited these values from his family and his mother, whose words have moved me immensely." Chris Giles

 

Christian Njoya Diawara-Small.

A recent trip to Africa had inspired Christian Small to change his name to Njoya Diawara-Small.
He felt this was a better reflection of his character because Njoya Diawara means "strong in spirit".
This was a quality he had in abundance.
The 28-year-old's drive and determination had ensured his hurdling talent never went to waste, and in May he won gold in the Middlesex County Championship.
How much further his dedication would have taken him will never be known.

On 7 July, he left his flat in Walthamstow, east London, at 0800 BST on his way to work in Holborn, in advertising sales, but never arrived.
His route would have involved changing to the Piccadilly Line either at Finsbury Park or King's Cross.
Fears for his safety grew that day and Christian's sister Tameka, 21, was joined by his friends and his parents in pinning up posters around London.

But the news they had been dreading came when his death was confirmed.
Mr Small's trip to West Africa, in which he researched his family origins, was a journey of self-discovery, of body, heart and mind.

Great Source
His mother Sheila said any anger felt over the loss of her son should not deflect them from his aspirations, such as educating young people about Africa or campaigning for fair trade and debt relief.
She said: "Christian, you return now to that Great Source from which we have all come.
"Though you will live forever in our hearts and minds and be with us in spirit, your body now returns to the earth, you voice becomes one with the wind, your tears one with the rain, your laughter one with the waves.
"Christian, we celebrate your life, a flame that lighted the way and touched many with its warmth, so short-lived and yet brilliant.
"Njoya, man of great spirit and determination, we will always love and remember you."

Flatmate Vanessa Walters, writing in the Guardian, said: "We grew up together. Always slightly too serious for his years, he was thoughtful and earnest - initiating house debates on anything from Live 8 to gay black Tory Derek Laud in Big Brother."
Mr Small joined Enfield and Haringey Athletic Club last year and progressed very quickly.
His coach, Eric Brees, said he was a popular member of the team.
His last competition was the London Inter-Club Challenge on 2 July at the New River Stadium in Haringey, where he finished second in the 110-metre hurdles.

When he was reported missing, some of his clubmates were too upset to compete.
And others who knew him are still digesting the news.
Darren Ferguson said: "Christian, I am devastated to see your name on the list of people who have lost their lives.
"I know we hadn't seen each other for many years since we were at school together, but I am still feeling for you and your family.
"I hope to see you again someday, on the other side."

Sourced from the BBC News website and Guardian Unlimited

 
 
 
Page last modified:
© Copyright of Every Generation 2003. Privacy Policy