Eulogies as Irene Rewane-Damola is laid to rest

The encomiums poured in torrents at the weekend for the late Dr. Irene Ebisan Rewane-Damola at the Trinity House, Victoria Island during her funeral.

Family, friends and well-wishers, who gathered in large numbers, were full of eulogies for the rare gem, whose departure from the earth at the age of 72, was regarded as early.

She was generally described as a much-loved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter and friend.

At the Christian wake service, which was co-anchored by the Trinity House and the Anglican Church of Resurrection, the Presiding Pastor of Trinity House, Ituah Ighodalo, in his sermon entitled: ‘God is in Control,’ said the first admonition he would give was that God would comfort all the children and the family left behind by the deceased, who had created a huge vacuum with her passage.

He described Irene as one who loved God, put her trust in God and believed in the power of God until her sudden demise. “My admonition to you all is that you should relax because God is in full control and He will comfort you,” he admonished.

Ighodalo further likened the departure of Dr. Rewane-Damola to that of Job’s story in the Bible and that whenever the devil means evil, God would always turn it to good. “Be united as a family to fight the common enemy. Be peaceful, avoid disagreement and if your mother while alive offended any, please forgive her so that God can forgive you too your own sins,” he advised.

One of the deceased sons, Dr. Biyi Damola, described her mother as a very special woman. ”I was inspired by her love as a mother and I am what I am today because of her love. She was a complete mother and I can say I am blessed to have had such a woman as a mother.

“She got us all prepared for her departure and all I would add is that we should be good to our fellow men as much as we could,” he said.

The deceased’s brother-in-law, Mr. Biodun Damola, described her as a wife, a mother, grandmother and friend. “We will all miss her. She came, she saw and she conquered. All we can do is to give thanks as the Bible says,” he said.

Mr. Wisdom Dafinone said he did not come to mourn but to celebrate an accomplished, extraordinary work done by a gracious woman. She described her as a precious wife, dedicated woman, a woman of charity, humility, respectability, responsibility and always faithful.

Toyin Akinrolabu described her mother as an intimate friend. “I am the woman I am today because of my mother. She always pushed and prodded me. I have been able to attain such heights and realise my full potential because she was always behind me, making sure I did the needful,” she said.

Chairman of the board, the Petroleum Club, Otunba Funso Lawal, described her departure as a life well spent. “Her memory would live on in our hearts.”

The officiating minister, Ven. Sam Isemede, said those that believe that everything does not end here on earth and that there is life after this world, need not to fear or be sorrowful. “A gloomy eternity is only for those who while they lived, repudiated the love of God and rejected Jesus Christ,” he said.