Elizabeth Joel Orenge Momanyi

Early Life
On November 5, 1953, Antimius Mairima and Wilfreda Marwekerwa welcomed their sixth-born daughter, Elizabeth Moraa Mairima, in Nyangena, Kitutu Masaba. Elizabeth was known for her deep affection for her grandmothers, Kerubo Moturi and Kemunto Mokaya, and her passion for farming.

Education

Elizabeth’s father, Antimius, was a staunch advocate for women’s education. He was committed to ensuring that his daughters received the opportunity to study. In Kenya, Elizabeth attended Ekerubo Kiobwoge Primary School, Ichuni High School, and Eregi Teachers Training College in Maseno. She then pursued further studies in America, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Food and Resource Economics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Marriage and Family Life

Elizabeth met her husband, Joel, through her sister and brother-in-law. She quickly fell in love with the handsome Joel, and they married in 1976 in a ceremony officiated by Dennis White at NPC Valley Road. Elizabeth embraced the Pentecostal faith, transitioning from Catholicism. Shortly after their wedding, they moved to the United States to pursue higher education. While studying, they welcomed their firstborn, Thomas Nyamweya. After completing their studies, the three of them returned to Kenya, where they expanded their family with the addition of four more children: Daniel, Cynthia, Winnie, and Ann, and through love, Lelde and Jacky. Elizabeth and Joel were blessed with grandchildren: Maverick, Courtney, Olivia, Joshua, Neyo, David, Gianna, Gerrard, and Shangwe.

Career

Elizabeth started her career at KEMRI before her entrepreneurial spirit took over. Throughout her business career, she pursued various ventures. She began by running a wholesale shop in Kawangware, then managed an apparel business, and eventually established a peanut butter manufacturing operation.

Illness

Elizabeth led a long, fruitful, and healthy life. In early December 2023, she was diagnosed with stage four cancer of the gallbladder and succumbed to the illness on June 10, 2024, at the age of 71. She fought the good fight, nished the race, and kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7).

TRIBUTES
From Thomas Nyamweya
A letter to my dear mum, my first love.Dear mum, I was your motangi (1st borne). We first met when you and baba gave life to me in Massachusetts back in 1979. I have known you for 44 of my living years and how I wish that your sickness did not get into the way and rob me of many more years of knowing you here on earth. But God is sovereign, and our times are in His hands. He really is the Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end, the rest and the last. Reflecting  back on the 44 years I have known you, if they were to be summed up, it would be fitting to use 1 Corinthians 13:13. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

Faith: You role modeled to me unwavering faith. An unwavering faith in God and faith in me, your son Thomas. You always stood behind me, believed in me and cheered me on in this race of life. You have left a measure and strong deposit of faith in me. Hope: In the hills and valleys of life that we experienced as a family, you always clung unto hope. You always had a bible verse for every challenge of life. You have taught me how to cling onto God’s Word for every season of life. His word is really a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Love: You were the first to show me love from when I was borne, and you showed me love to the very very end. Literally to the very very end. When I flew in to see you from the US this June, I came straight from the airport to your hospital bed. You opened your eyes when you heard the voice of Lelde, the kids and I and you curled your lips – no words came out but we could lip read and see you say ‘I love you’ , ‘I love you’ , ‘I love you’. ‘I love you’ so many times – whist it was heartbreaking to not here your voice, that image of love and you curling your lips will be forever etched in my mind. Thank you for modeling love with baba – you truly demonstrated what the Bible calls love – patience, kindness, goodness, self control. I am especially thankful to you for loving the Love of my life Lelde. My sweetheart and soulmate Lelde from a completely different race, culture and upbringing. You embraced her from the word go….I think because she is a woman of the word and prayer…..as soon as you heard that I knew you loved her as you loved your very own daughters. She is who you had been praying for me to meet for many years. You were so instrumental in making her feel like her second mum. She loves you, she loves Kenya- Kenya is like home to her – she says it so many times.’ Thank you for showing her love, and modeling how love should be played out in a marriage. Thank you for loving Bvava Olivia and Babsi Joshua….they prayed and prayed and prayed for you allot, and are sad that you are gone, but they know that one day they will see you again. I am glad they got to hug you and pray for you by your hospital bed before you were called by the Lord.

Mum. I love you. I will miss your earthly presence, but I know that one day I will see you again. I am comforted by John 11:25-26 : Jesus is the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. I know that I will see you and baba, and all the other saints who have gone before us one day. For now, I will continue to run the race for which the Lord has called me so that when my time has come I will hear ‘well done my good and faithful servant’ Oh and by the way, can I add – I have decided to inherit your Bible. It is an inheritance without a price. The day you departed I opened it, and I see you had book marked it with your name tag at Romans 8:18 in which Paul says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” Thank you for deliberately leaving these parting words for me and the wider family to know that you are in a better place. This has helped me allot in my mourning.
Love you mum. See you in God’s time. Your son. Thomas Nyamweya

From Lelde Nyamweya
Mum, there are not enough words to say how much I will miss you. You embraced me with open arms from the first day we met. I was amazed how loving, kind and accepting you were, called me your daughter. One of my earliest and fondest memories of you were you allowing me to enter your kitchen and cook together with you. I remember our long chats on the terrace followed by endless cups of tea sharing stories and sharing hearts. You truly inspired me to dig deeper in the Word of God. Your passion for Christ, your walk of faith and your testimonies inspired me that nothing is impossible with God. You lived out your faith not just in words but also in actions. Once our children Olivia and Joshua were born, you dropped everything and come to London to teach us how to take care of them. I will be forever grateful for the nights you took our crying babies and rocked them to sleep, allowing me to rest. Thank you for truly always being there for me. Thank you for standing always in faith and in prayer for me and my family. You sang through the sunshine and through the storms of life and you run your race tirelessly till the end. Now as you walk the streets of gold with our Lord and Saviour hand in hand, I can only imagine, what joy and love your heart is lled! Your loving smile, warmth and laughter are forever engraved in my heart. Rest in peace mum, till we meet again. Love, Lelde Nyamweya.

From your two last borns Winnie and Ann
A Tribute to Our Mother and Friend
How do we speak of someone who has raised us with such love, strength, and kindness? Your life has taught us compassion, vulnerability, and joy. Your ability to laugh at very serious things (we inherited this) had a remarkable way of reminding us that life is never that serious. Your consistent affirmations since childhood, emphasizing our intelligence and saying “you are the head, not the tail,” inspired us to not limit ourselves. You instilled in us a desire to want more from life, encouraging us never to settle for less than we deserved. We can see your sacrifices, prayers, and love reflected in our success and in the lives of those you touched.

Mum, you fiercely protected us, always putting our well-being first. Your protective nature is a testament to your deep love for us. We will miss the moments when you would open our room in the morning unannounced to share the latest “tea”, and we would all crack up. Those moments set the tone for our days and will remain fond memories to us. You truly embodied the spirit of Proverbs 31, being worth far more than rubies. You brought us good, not harm, and we had full coincidence in you. You were always the first up and the last to sleep. You were Dad’s eyes for investment and had open arms for the community. You spoke with wisdom and gave instruction with kindness. Mum, we call you blessed. Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Thank you for sharing your gift of love. We love you.

Cynthia Orenge
Mum, thank you for being my mother, my rock, my advisor, my children’s grandmother, and my friend. I will miss our shared moments, the late-night chats, and pillow talk after evening Bible devotions during sleepovers. I will cherish the never-ending goodnight kisses and hugs as the grandkids shuffled through the bedrooms, trying to settle in, until you’d finally “shush” everyone and we’d laugh and fall asleep with light hearts. Even as an adult, I was comforted by your whispered prayers, hearing you walk to each of our
beds. Praying for us long after we had fallen asleep. You taught me how to bake my first cake and instilled in me an entrepreneurial spirit (you were a jack of all trades, a true hustler). I now share this sweet talent with the world through Cakes by Civa.

I have so many fond memories that will stay with me forever. I am deeply grateful to God for the years and time we had together and for you always standing in the gap for Maverick and Courtney. I will truly miss your presence. As your children, we believe we honored you and Dad and gave you your flowers whenever we could. Now, we send you off with love. You ran your race well and fought the good fight. May you rest in eternal peace until we meet again.

Daniel Orenge
Mama you were a servant of the Lord, very prayerful and diligent in studying Gods word. Everything around your life was governed by Gods word and you have set the bar quite high for us with regards to passion and discipline in daily devotion. Nonetheless your investment surely payed off in my life and it is through this that God sustained me through my toughest battle, alcoholism. Your prayers and steadfast love are the pillars by which I am alive and how I even got out.

I remember the times when I would get admitted at hospital (High dependency unit) courtesy of my alcoholic addiction and you would stand by me and simply share words of encouragement that this too would pass. You were very cautious with words as you understood the power behind words, especially a mums words. Even at this point where most parents would have given up and confessed doom, your faith that is deeply founded in Gods word covered me as you spoke victory over my life, and surely it came to pass.

Mum you were very industrious, very business oriented, from your apparel business to the renown Kings Peanut butter, your hands were always busy, and through this you mothered many who passed through as you used this platform for ministry as well. Mama, I can firmly say that surely you have run your race and you have finished well, many lives you have impacted and brought many souls to the Lord, your legacy is one to be mimicked. Mama, I will run my race, I will raise my family founded on Gods word, I will become the Daniel of old as you named me, I will surely make you proud so on the day we meet again, we will share the same oor with you in Heaven, the floor of the v.i.ps that finished well and their works show for
it. Love you mummy.

From Jackie Awuor
Dear Mum in love, you are a Godly lady who seeks to please the Lord in all that you do. You have upheld your children, grandchildren and those around you through your daily prayers. You are a precious gift from God. Thank you for the love I have felt and received over the years, always lending a shoulder to lean on. Your spirit will forever be present in the love and wisdom you imparted on us. I have a lot to say about you, but I know you are smiling down on us from heaven. Woman of faith, we shall meet again, rest well mum.

From The Grandchildren
Maverick
Dear Nyanya
I miss your amazing humor, your delicious chapati that you made for us every time we visited, your amazing smiles and kisses brightened our days I will surely miss them. Your poems and hymns that you sang to us will always run in my mind all my life. Thank you for being there for us and I know you are in a better place now.

Courtney
Dear Nyanya
I love the way you love and cared for us. Each time we came home you were ready with a big hug and a green smoothie. All the stories you told us made us laugh and the songs that you taught us will always remain in my heart. I will never forget the day that you taught me how to pray. I love you and you remain forever in my heart.

Olivia
Dear Nyanya
You will always have a place in my heart. I will miss the times when she would show me the little chickens and gifted me one. May she be blessed in heaven with the lord.

May her soul rest in peace

Joshua
Dear Nyanya
I wish you were here. I feel really sad that you are gone. You were a good teacher. I love you and I will miss spending time with you

Neyo
Dear Nyanya
I will miss your food and groundnuts. I will miss your kindness. You taught us how to sing and pray You were always good to us and all the people around you. My best moments and ones I will miss is you reading the bible to us every day.

David
Nyanya you loved God. You went to church every Sunday. You prayed every morning and every night. You taught us new songs, how to share and forgive. You taught us to love God, pray and read the bible every day. Nyanya you are the best.

Nieces
From The Masitas
Dear Auntie,
We loved you for mom…
You will be fondly remembered as the golden gals, you and our mom both, your only beloved sister who survives you. You shared a close bond and one thing that stays with us is how you talked every day and supported each other through life’s ups and downs. You have shown us how to be sisters and we will treasure our own gift of sisterhood as long as we live.
We loved you for us…
We have many aunts, but in our household when the names auntie and uncle were mentioned, we all knew it was you and our late uncle and there was never a need to clarify which aunt or uncle. You and our late uncle were like a second set of parents to us, and we are grateful to our parents and you for intentionally raising both our families as a close knit unit. Growing up while under your care, you provided a safe space in your home for us. As far back as we can remember, you held daily evening family devotions and at every family gathering, read scriptures from the bible, shared and prayed. For every matter, you believed in the power of prayer, and was such an encourager that you brought many to the faith, me included. You were unapologetic about your faith and not ashamed of the gospel.
May her soul rest in peace

One of life lessons learnt from you is that parents can be wrong sometimes and it is ok to apologize to their children, something that doesn’t come easy to African parents, but one we are happy to apply in our parenting today.

Story by Mokeira…
“My Auntie was so special to me. I spent a lot of time at sleepovers in her home considering Thomas is my favorite cousin. As such, she knew me in and out, having seen me grow and really having raised me. She therefore had very interesting and funny stories about me that she didn’t hesitate to share and make fun of me in the process, every chance she got. I’ll tell you one story. Once during our regular sleepovers at the Orenge household with my siblings when I was 5 or 6 years old, we sat down to breakfast and on the menu was boiled eggs among other things (less important in my humble opinion at that age). Auntie served 1 egg to everyone around the table and shortly noticed tears streaming silently down my cheeks. She was baffled at what could have gone wrong but was soon made to understand that I (being the Masita last born and all) always got 2 boiled eggs while everyone else got 1. She had clearly missed the memo! But little me expected her to just know this and do the needful. She never ceased tor remind me of this story and we have laughed about it over the years well into my adulthood. We all loved her dearly. May
her soul rest in eternal peace.”

Nephews
It is difficult to capture the essence of my aunt in mere words; her presence was a homecoming. Her generosity knew no bounds; from the endless supply of groundnuts to the fresh juice she lovingly prepared for our Christmas gatherings. Her smile was a beacon of warmth, her advice a treasure for our family. We all yearn to have been here today, to honor her life in person, but in spirit, we stand with you. Until the day we reunite with Shosho Mdogo, we carry her memory in our hearts. To Thomas and the immediate family, know that we stand with you. The wisdom your parents instilled will guide you through trying times. Let the scriptures be your compass, and your kin, a source of strength.

Rest in eternal peace, Shosho Mdogo. Your legacy lives on within us all.

Grandies
Shosho Elizabeth, no! Scratch that! Sosho Mdogo was the moniker for our lovely grandmother. We referred to her as Shosho Mdogo because she was the younger sister of Shosho Mary. If memory serves me well, it was either Maurice, Melvin, or Alex who coined that name. Subsequently, our late Babu Joel became Babu Mdogo, and the names have held ever since. Today, we gather to honor and celebrate the life of Shosho Mdogo, a woman who was more than just a grandmother to us; she was a guiding light, a pillar of faith, and the heart of our family. As I stand here, I’m flooded with memories that paint a vivid picture of who she was and the incredible impact she had on all of us.

Shosho was a devout woman of faith, and the cornerstone of our family. She had a profound way with words, especially when sharing passages from the Bible. Her ability to articulate powerful verses and convey their meanings to even the youngest family members was remarkable. We cherished her wisdom, gathering around her, listening as her creative juices owed like a beautiful symphony. In hindsight, we now realize the immense impact of being rooted in the scriptures. It has shaped our values and perspectives on life, providing an anchor in a world that often celebrates superficiality. We are deeply thankful to her for strengthening our faith in Christ and teaching us the importance of aligning with God’s will. One of our fondest memories is of the joyous Christmases we spent at her home. It wasn’t just the decorations or the gifts, but the warmth and love that filled the air. Shosho’s hospitality was legendary. Her home was a haven where everyone felt welcome. We can still taste the homemade treats she would prepare, though I must admit, as children, we weren’t fans of her freshly made fruit juices. But now, those same juices bring nostalgic smiles to our faces, a reminder of her care for our health and well-being. Her peanut butter was nothing short of extraordinary. She called it the King’s peanut butter, and it truly was t for royalty. The rich groundnut flavor and smooth texture made it a family favorite. We often think that if she had decided to sell it, it would have been a commercial hit. Shosho’s knitting was another expression of her love. We remember the olive-green sweaters with two white stripes that she made for us. Each stitch was woven with care, providing not just warmth but a tangible reminder of her dedication and affection. As we prepare to lay her to rest, we find solace in knowing that her legacy of faith, love, and unity will continue to guide us. Shosho Mdogo was more than just a grandmother. She was a mentor, a friend, and a beacon of light in our lives. Her unwavering faith, her wisdom, and her boundless love will forever remain in our hearts.Rest in peace, dear Shosho. You are now at the right hand of the Father, victorious and at peace. We love you, we miss you, and we will carry your memory with us always.

Parting shot from Baraka…

“I loved my Cucu Nyanya very much because she always said hi to me and always prayed for me.”