Children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are celebrating the legacies of late Chief Mrs. Juliana Ayinke Fasehun, nee Oyemade, ahead of her funeral next week.

Born on May 19, 1930, ‘ate Mrs. Fasehun who hailed from Ijebu-Ife in Ogun State, attended Methodist High School, CMS, Lagos. Married to Chief Olabanji Fasehun in 1948 and after the birth of her first son, Chief Olufemi Fasehun, she proceeded to England where she tried her hands at Nursing Aid and Fashion Design before returning to Lagos, after staying in England for about three years.

She thereafter had twins in 1953 and subsequently had two more children; one is Chief Olusola Fasehun who was born in 1957 and Dr. Simi Fasehun born in 1961.

‘Mama’, as she was fondly called, lost her husband quite early at the age of 47 and since then dedicated her life to the upbringing of her children. Essentially, throughout her life as a home maker, late Mrs. Fasehun was a strong Christian of the Anglican Communion and was engaged with a lot of church programmes. During her life time, she belonged to the Armour Bearers Society of the Cathedral Church of Christ and member and matron of the Egbe Ore-Ofe at the St. Paul, Aroloya in Lagos Island till she passed on.

One of her sons, Dr. Simi Fasehun, described Mama as a lover of children and that she had a lot of children under her care, apart from her biological children and that of many others.

“She just had an open heart, our house was like a revolving door with people coming in and staying and leaving, she did that most of her life. She had five children all of who are alive today and doing very well. Mama happens to be from the Royal family of Oyemade from Ijebu-Ife and she played very prominent parts in the development of the church, the Anglican Church in Ijebu-Ife,” he added.

On her legacies, he said mama was very God fearing; “she was extremely loving and she shared her love with everybody who came her way. She was a very patient person; she was a very wise person. I will say one of the things I learnt from her the most was her wise sayings, proverbs that we don’t share with our children anymore but not just her proverbs, she will use circumstances as metaphors to explain your situation and so it was easy for you to understand and assimilate.”

Two of her grandchildren, Mr. Olujuwon Okunowo and Leke Fasehun, remembered their grandmother as the bedrock of their family because according to them growing up as a kid she was always there.

Mama lived till she was 89 and she is survived by her five children, 15 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. Her funeral rites will start on Tuesday, August 27, 2019 with a service of songs at Sanctuary of Grace, Ikeja, Lagos.

Update news