Kenyan student dies in the US after sudden collapse

Mashariki Leo – Online Wire Service
Posted Saturday, February 20, 2010; 11:15 P.M.
Updated Sunday, February 21, 2010; 3:00 P.M.

The Late Thomas Nyagaka Ongige, student at the University of St. Mary of the Lake’s Mundelein Seminary

Chicago, Illinois – A Kenyan student collapsed Thursday afternoon while attending a class at the University of St. Mary of the Lake’s Mundelein Seminary.

The professor together with students attending the class tried to resuscitate him by performing a cardiopulmonary resuscitation procedure commonly known as CPR.

Momentarily, Thomas Nyagaka Ongige, 36, was immediately rushed to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, Illinois. He was pronounced dead on arriving.

Sister Placid Awour, fellow Kenyan and student at the Chicago Theological Union, said that Ongige was a very cheerful young man with no apparent or reported health issues.

“His last words to me last Saturday when he visited with some his friends were -- I want to be a priest not the Pope, but a Priest. Now he is surely a priest” said Awour.

The Kenya Embassy in Washington has been informed of Ongige’s death and the chancery is working with friends and the Archdiocese of Chicago to airlift the body back to Kenya for last rites and burial.

Rev. George Omwando, presiding priest at Our Lady of the Ridge Parish in Chicago Ridge, Illinois will be hosting a worship holly mass for the late Ongige Sunday, Feb 21 starting 5:00 p.m. The parish is located at 10811 Ridgeland Avenue, Chicago Ridge, IL 60415-2199.

In an email sent out to the Kenyan community Saturday afternoon, during the service a donation will be collected from friends and well-wishers to help with high costs associated with this tragedy.

On Tuesday, Feb 23, the seminary in Mundelein is planning to host a wake at 9:00 a.m. followed by a holly mass before Ongige’s body is flown back to Kenya for burial. The Kenyan community and friends of Kenya are invited to attend both services. The address to the seminary is 1000 East Maple Avenue, Mundelein, Illinois 60060.

Ongige had arrived in the United States in 2008 and was a second-year seminarian. He hailed from the Kisii community in Nyanza province, Kenya. His coming to US and pursuit of priesthood as a career was seen as beckon of hope by his family.

The University of St. Mary of the Lake, which is home to Mundelein Seminary, is a major seminary and school of theology for the Archdiocese of Chicago. Many of the students who graduate end up serving as priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago; however, many graduates end up serving in 46 other dioceses in the United States and abroad.

The university had its beginnings as Saint Mary’s College. In 1844, the first bishop of Chicago, the Right Reverend William J. Quarter, D.D. received from the State of Illinois a charter giving the university the power to confer academic or honorary degrees as are usually conferred by similar institutions.

For more information about both services mentioned above and to make a contribution, please contact: Sr. Placida Awour, 847-271-2463 (email: srplaoumafa@yahoo.co.uk) or Rev. George Omwando, 708-560-6109.