The family of the late Kenneth Muiruri Ndungu during a memorial service at the Grace International church in Lowell last Sunday, January 22. Pic by H.Maina/AjabuMedia
By Harrison Maina, AjabuAfrica.com
Posted Saturday, January 28 2012
LOWELL, MA_Friends and family mourned the death of a Kenyan man who came to Lowell, MA in 2003 to collect the body of his deceased father for burial back home, only for him to pass away 9 years later.
Kenneth Muiruri Ndungu (49) passed away last week barely a day before he was scheduled to be discharged from the Kenyatta National hospital in Nairobi after a short illness.
He was a brother to a Lowell based Kenyan music artist, JP Muiruri among others.
The late Ndungu leaves behind a wife and 5 children, among them Martin Muraya Muiruri of Phoenix, Arizona.
Before relocating to Phoenix in 2010, Muiruri was a resident of Lowell.
During a memorial service held last Sunday, January 22, 2012 at the Grace International church in Lowell, mourners expressed sympathy to the family of the later Ndungu for the unexpected loss.
The last Ndungu came to the US in 2003 to transport the body of their father who passed away while living in Lowell.
The late Kenneth Muiruri Ndungu
On his return trip with the body of their father, the late Ndungu also took with him is aged mother who was living in Lowell as well.
He continued to take care of the mother until the time of his death.
“We are very shocked and disturbed by the death of Muiruri. He was so nice and he was the only one living with our ailing mother back home,” said JP Muiruri while speaking to
AjabuAfrica.com during the memorial service.
Members of the Kenyan community who came to console the family raised funds for travel expenses and a hospital bill left behind by the young father.
The late Ndungu’s son, Muiruri, and his older brother, JP Muiruri traveled to Kenya this week for the burial that took place on Thursday January 26 at his rural home Nyambari location in Lari Division of Kiambu County in central Kenya.
Leading the memorial service, Rev. Jeremiah Githere, pastor of the Grace International church asked the family of the late Ndungu to have strength in the wake of the devastating loss, as death will always visit upon every family at one time or the other.
Mourners during a memorial service for the late Kenneth Muiruri Ndunguat the Grace International church in Lowell last Sunday, January 22.
The late Kenneth Muiruri Ndungu with his mother during a memorial service of his late father in Lowell, MA back in 2003. Pic by family file.
