Onikeh's Journey

Evelyn Onikeh Songu-Mbriwa (née Parper) was a beloved daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend. She left this world on October 17, 2021 at the age of 75.

 

She was born to Ansumana Beresford Parper and Regina Omohjowo Parper (née Williams) on August 13, 1946, in Bo, Sierra Leone. She is the eldest daughter and second of nine children.

 

After graduating from Methodist Girls High School in Freetown, Evelyn chased her dreams to attend medical school in Kiev, USSR (now Ukraine) where she met her husband, Dr. Tamba Songu-Mbriwa. They married and had two sons in the USSR- Sahr and Tamba- in the early ’70s.

 

Following their studies in the former USSR, they moved briefly back to Sierra Leone and had a third child, Sohkor.

The young family relocated to the North-East of England shortly afterward. Here they had three more children- Aiah, Omohjowo, and Evelyn. While her husband worked as a doctor for the NHS, Evelyn became a stay-at-home mother, raising their six children.

 

In 1991, Evelyn moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where she worked as a healthcare professional in various hospitals in the Greater Boston Area.

In 2000, she relocated a final time to Tampa, Florida, where she continued her career in the healthcare field until retirement. She spent the remainder of her life traveling and enjoying time with her children, grandchildren, and other family.

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Evelyn was a woman of strong faith, and her love of God guided her throughout her life. This is the legacy she leaves behind to her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and all those whose lives she touched.

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Evelyn is preceded in death by her beloved parents and her husband. She is survived by her six children, her eight grandchildren (Ellie, Kai, Emmanuel, Joshua, David, Amarius, Sia, and Rebecca), and her eight siblings (Israel, Emelia, Adeline, Juliana, Regina, Leo, Fr. Winston, and Veronica).