DR. THERESA HENRIETTA AGYEKUM
(ADWOA DUFIE)
The marriage of Francis Edward Kofi Agyekum of Jacobu and his wife, Mrs. Nancy Agyekum of Kokofu, both in the Ashanti Region of Ghana was blessed with nine children: three boys, three girls and three boys - in that order
Today, we say farewell to the first of the girls of this marriage. She was born on 27th November, 1950, and her father named her after his only sister, Maame Dufie. Like all Monday female borns, she acquired the ‘soul name’, Adwoa, thus becoming known as Adwoa Dufie. The staunch Catholics that her parents were, she was baptized within a month of birth, and was christened, Theresa, after St. Theresa of the Holy Child Jesus.
She grew up in a large family. Apart from her three older brothers, she also had five other elder sisters and a brother from her father’s earlier marriage. Together, they all lived as a closely-knit family in a happy and cheerful milieu. Theresa was so loved and adored by all the family as she was as beautiful and as she was sweet from birth.
At school going age, she was in January, 1957, enrolled as Theresa Henrietta Agyekum at the St. Joseph’s Primary/Middle School, Adabraka, Accra where her older brothers also were. Little Theresa loved school just as she loved home. To date her childhood classmates remember her as that happy and strong-willed girl who romped about the whole school compound exuding joy during break time.
Academically she was always among the top of her class. It came as matter of course in 1964 she easily passed the then Common Entrance Examination to gain admission to the prestigious Catholic girls’ school, Holy Child, in Cape Coast in the Central Region of Ghana for her High School education.
In her fourth year at Holy Child School at age sixteen, she was to do her school and herself proud by winning an America Field Scholarship in a national competition to do a one year Exchange Programme in the United States of America. Theresa left Ghana in July, 1968 for the United States, where she lived with the Roberts’ family of Silver Creek in Buffalo, New York. This was the beginning of her love story for her second homeland.
Theresa returned home after the one year to complete her high school education at Holy Child. After successfully obtaining her General Certificate Education, (GCE) Ordinary Level, she went on to do her two-year ‘Advanced Level’ at the same school. Thus equipped to enter any University, she turned to her new homeland, the United States of American.
This determined and focused lady set about getting the best America could offer in her academic pursuit. She enrolled at the State University of New York-Buffalo for her Bachelor’s degree. Theresa then went to the Michigan State University to obtain her Master’s degree in Urban Planning.
Theresa had a set of twins, a boy and a girl, Ekow and Aba and their kid brother, Kobina after her first degree. Together with her children, she returned to Ghana in the early 1980’s, and was employed by the State Insurance Corporation (SIC). Her love for her second homeland never waned, so after about a couple of years Theresa and her children, still infants, returned to the United States
It was here that Theresa showed to the full her resilience, strong will and tenacity. She defied all odds of a single mother and raised her three children to be important members of society. It will always stand to her pride that alone, she was able to instill such discipline and proper values in the children that she leaves behind, a Professor of Law, who is an Associate and Research Thomas M. Cooley Dean of Faculty at one of the most elite law schools in the United States, then a Senior Director (Legal) and Head of Global Procurement and IT of a giant multinational company, and her baby last, a 2013 Emmy Award Winning Creative Director and Animator. What a mother, what a woman of substance.
What Theresa prided herself in most was not the academic laurels of her children, but rather more of their disciplined and religious disposition, which she often likened to her own father. This always gave her extreme joy and self-fulfillment.
It is worthy of note that while she was pushing her children up the academic ladder, she was not resting only on her Master’s degree. A Master’s degree was not enough for her. Theresa went on to obtain her Doctorate in Law (Juris Prudence) from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Remarkably, however, in her simplicity she did not go about insisting on being addressed ‘Counselor’.
Her working life in the US saw her in various capacities at different institutions. These included, Urban Planner at State of Michigan’s Department of Transportation an Attorney with the Dekalb County, Georgia Superior Court, and a solo private practice where she provided immigration and family law advice and services to her many clients, including many Ghanaians.
Adwoa was a duty conscious person. Conscious of the fact that she was her mother’s eldest daughter, and with the old lady advancing in age as well as declining in health, she felt it was her filial duty to return home to take care of her. So she returned home in 2011 to nurse her mother. For the three years she took care of the mother, she helped as a Senior Lecturer to set up the Law Faculty of the Central University College in Accra. With the passing away of the mother in 2014, and with a sense of fulfillment, Theresa returned to her second home, the US, with the intention of coming back to Ghana with her children in April 2024 to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the passing of her mum as well as the 1st of her brother, Knight, whom she had brought home for interment in March, 2023.
But, alas! This was not to be, as on 16th March, 2024, exactly ten years to the day of her dear mother’s passing, Theresa was to respond to God’s call.
Fare thee well…………….Theresa Henrietta Agyekum, Esq
Lady Tess………..Go, go, go on unto your Lord and Maker
Adwoa……Da Yie!!
Funeral Information:
Funeral Information:
Valedictory Mass
Friday, May 17, 2024:
Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church
2855 Briarcliff Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30319
Attire: Black
Viewing from 10:30 am-11:45 am EST
Funeral Mass from 12:00noon-1:30 pm EST
Live Streaming available at:
https://ihmatlanta.org/livestream or https://www.facebook.com/IHMAtlanta/
Reception & Traditional Funeral
Friday, May 17, 2024
4:00pm-10:00pm EST
Smoke Rise Country Club
4900 Chedworth Drive
Stone Mountain, GA 30087
Attire: Black & Red
Thanksgiving Mass & Reception
Sunday, May 19, 2024 @ 1:15 pm EST
St. Patrick’s Catholic Church
2140 Beaver Ruin Rd
Norcross, GA 30071
Attire: Black & White
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