Magdalene Wambui Njoroge
Magdalene Wambui Njoroge, 83, wife of the late Joseph Gichinga Njoroge, passed away peacefully surrounded by members of her family on Monday, January 16th 2017 after several years of illness. She was the mother of the late Agatha and John, mother-in-law of the late J B Maina and late Paul Nginya Kimani Titi; sister of the late Brigitta Nyanjau Gateri and the late Theresia Njoki Kimani; of brother Ambrose Kiiru; sister-in-law of the late Pascal Kimani Titi.
She is survived by her children and their spouses: Trizah, Gishinga & Gloria, Mary, Nancy, Cecilia & Kang’asha, Fred & Theresiah, Stanislaus & Lucy, Charles, Martin & Gladys, Wangari & Godfrey, Njoki & Peter; also by brothers and sisters and their spouses – Alois Keiru & Edith, John Chege Kiiru & Rachel, Bernadette Waweru-Mathu & Dr Waweru-Mathu, James Kaba Kiiru & Mary; Luka Kiiru & Jane and Jane Maina; and by brother-in-law Michael Gateri; also by many grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Beloved aunt of the Salome Wanjiku & Gichinga wa Muturi family and Maria Njeri & Paul Kiiru Kaba family.
Prayer meetings on Friday (5pm), Saturday and Sunday ( 2pm) at residence — inside Pan African Christian [PAC] University, Roysambu — of Prof Martin Chege Njoroge & Gladys G Njoroge. Also daily, at home, Mbogoro, Gatundu South.
Cortege leaves Kenyatta University Funeral Home on Monday January 23rd 2017, at 8am
Requiem mass: same day, 10am, Karinga [Catholic Church], Gatundu South, burial thereafter at home, Mbogoro.
May her soul rest in eternal peace
Our Mother
Magdalene Wambui,
As a young mother you set your foot
on the path of life.
‘Is this the long way?’ You asked your guide.
And the guide told you: ‘Yes,
and the way is hard
And you will be old before
you reach the end of it.
But the end will be better
than the beginning.’
But as the young mother, you were happy,
and you would not believe
that anything could be better
than those years.
So you played with us, your children,
and gathered flowers for us along the way,
and bathed us in the clear streams of Rwabura River;
and the sun shone on us,
and you delightedly noted,
‘Nothing will ever be lovelier than this.’
Then the night came,
and the storm, and the path was dark,
and as your children, we shook with fear and cold,
and you drew us close
and covered us with your mantle,
and as your children, we said,
‘Mother, we are not afraid,
for you are near, and no harm can come.’
And the morning came,
and there was a hill ahead,
and as your children, we climbed and grew weary,
and you, mother, were weary.
But at all times you said to us, your children,
‘A little patience and we are there.’
So we climbed,
and when we reached the top, we said,
‘Mother, we would not have done it without you.’
And Mother, when you lay down at night
You looked up at the stars and said,
‘This is a better day than the last,
for my children have learned fortitude
in the face of hardness.
Yesterday I gave them courage.
Today, I’ve given them strength.’
And the next day came strange clouds
which darkened the earth,
clouds of war and hate and evil,
and we, your children, groped and stumbled,
and you instructed us:
‘Look up. Lift your eyes to the light.’
And we looked and saw
above the clouds an everlasting glory,
and it guided us beyond the darkness.
And that night, I heard you say:
‘This is the best day of all,
for I have shown my children God.’
And the days went on,
and the weeks and the months and the years,
and YOU, mother, grew old
and you became little and a bit bent.
But WE, your children, were tall and strong,
and walked with courage.
And when the way was rough,
We lifted you, for you were as light as a feather;
and at last we came to a hill,
and beyond , we could see a shining road
and golden gates flung wide.
And on 16th January 2017, lying on your death bed,
You told us:
‘I have reached the end of my journey.
And now I know the end
is better than the beginning,
for YOU, my children, can walk alone,
and YOUR children after YOU.’
And as YOUR children, we said,
‘You will always walk with us, Mother,
even when you have gone through the gates.’
And WE stood and watched you
as you went on alone,
and the gates closed after YOU.
On realizing YOU were gone, we said:
‘We cannot see our mother but she is with us still.
A Mother like ours is more than a memory.
She is a living presence…….’
Magadalene Wambui, our mother will always be with us….
She will be the whisper of the leaves
as we walk down the street;
the smell of bleach
in our freshly cleaned socks and clothes;
she will be the cool hand on our brow
when we will not be well.
Our Mother will live inside our laughter.
And she will be crystallized in every tear drop.
She is the place we came from,
Our first home;
and she’s the map we will follow through life+
She’s our first love and our first heartbreak,
and nothing on earth can separate us from our mother Magdalene Wambui.
Not time, not space… not even death!
REST IN PEACE MAMA TILL WE MEET AGAIN IN GLORY
*Prof. Martin C. Njoroge, PhD*
Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs
Pan Africa Christian University
Lumumba Drive, Roysambu, off Kamiti Rd, off Thika Rd