Tributes poured in at the weekend for the late Madam Rachael Folashade Alonge,an educationist.
She was described as a seasoned school teacher and a faithful, exemplary, enduring and dedicated wife of the Alonge family.
It was at the funeral service for Madam Alonge at the Church of Assumption, Falomo Ikoyi, Lagos.
Madam Alonge died on January 3. She was 81.
She taught at Saint Gregory College, Obalende, Lagos and was Vice Principal at Saint Finbarr’s College, Akoka, Lagos among others. Emeritus Catholic Bishop of Ondo Diocese Rev Francis Folorunso Alonge, who was brother in-law to the deceased was represented by Rev. Father Emmanuel Aladesiun, his Personal Secretary.
Bishop Alonge said: “Although it is sad to hear that she is no longer physically with us, we are, however, grateful to God the giver of life for her life and her legacy of a wonderful Catholic woman.
“May God grant her merciful judgment, and may the angels of God lead her to the bosom of Abraham our father in faith. And may the Lord graciously console and bless the entire Alonge family with good health and long life,” the cleric said
Speaking during the homily, the Parish Priest, Church of the Assumption, Rev Fr Francis Ike recalled a well-known song among the pupils that Mama must have sang during her active period as a professional teacher.
The song goes thus: “Oh my home, oh my home. When shall I see my home? When shall I see my beautiful home? I will never forget my home.”
Mama would be smiling where she is now and I know she is with the Lord, the priest said.
Describing death as a necessary debt everyone must pay, the priest said that the preaching of death is not meant for the dead but for the living.
“Nobody wants to talk about death because death is not what we want to hear about but it is the faith in the resurrection that has gathered us here today. Faith that those who live in Christ and die in Christ will also rise with him. Resistance from death has not kept man away from it. Man must accept this reality willingly that death will come one day. The earlier we accept the responsibility, the better for us.”
One of the daughters, Mrs Tokunbo Oguine who spoke with The Nation at the funeral, described her mother as a selfless woman who devoted her life to her family.
“She’s a selfless person. She’s always devoted her life to her family and all the other children that she brought up apart from her own immediate biological children. So she’s a very self-sacrificial person, she was the glue that held the whole family together and all the relatives and everyone, so there’s a lot of goodwill as you can see here as well because she was loved by so many people. She was one in a million for me, so remarkable.”
Mrs Oguine said that she would always remember her ‘beautiful mother for her love and compassion’.
“Her kindness, tolerance, big heart and her capacity to endure so much will always be part of me. She endured a lot. I learned how to just be a better person. She taught us how to be you, know better and do better every single day. So that I would carry them with me all along she had good moral values that she instilled in us. So I will always remember that,” she said.
Madam Alonge was laid to rest at the Vaults and Garden (Mayfair) at Lekki- Express Way, Awoyaya, Epe.
She was born in Isie in Kwara State. Her late parents Mr and Mrs Ezekiel Ore were devoted Anglican.
Former Commissioner for Information in Ekiti State, Sir Kayode Otitoju, former Group Managing Director of UACN,Mr Ayo Ajayi and others paid tributes at the funeral. Sir Otitoju described Mama as lucky. He said:
“Chief Mrs Folashade Alonge was blessed as she had her Brother-inlaw as the Emeritus Bishop of Ondo Diocese, Bishop FCF Alonge and a biological son- Akinboboye Alonge, a Pentecostal Bishop in Abuja. Mummy Alonge was a unifier and a devout Catholic that never missed daily Morning Mass when she was still strong”. Mr. Ayo Ajayi, former Group Managing Director of UACN , while giving his tribute eulogised Late Mrs Folashade Alonge who he described as a fantastic ‘sister’ from thesame Ayede Ekiti Town with him, prayed for repose of her soul before giving a final Vote of Thanks for the Service of Songs night.