Chicago, August 13, 2022. Funerals are a massive deal in Ghana and within the Ghanaian communities in the diaspora. The dead are revered so much that funerals play a central role in Ghanaian communities at home and abroad. Traditional Ghanaian funerals are lavish, elaborate, and often drawn-out affairs with large gatherings of family, friends, and sympathizers. In this vein, Paa Kwasi Sam, the president of the Ghanaian Community and a member and elder of the Okuapeman Fekuw, organized a fitting celebration for his late mom, Elizabeth Opoku Gyekye. Elizabeth lived in Chicago before relocating to Ghana a few years back.
The event was one of the most well-planned and had the largest attendance in the Chicago area yet. About a thousand attendees, including members of the Ghanaian community in Chicago and Okuapeman Association of North America. They were all clad in red and black.
Funeral decorations are one way to express your love, respect, and honor a departed’s memory and interests. The hall was well decorated, creating a beautiful environment for attendees to focus on mourning, remembering, honoring, and celebrating his late mom’s life and legacy. Portraits of his late mom were carefully placed at vantage points throughout the hall. In addition, the hall was adorned with beautiful red and black fabrics and balloons. It was a stunning sight to behold.
The sounds of dirges, fontomfrom, and others were nostalgic as attendees who grew up in Ghana would recall magnificent funerals for royals and prominent members of society who passed away back home.
The celebration’s highlight was when Paa Kwasi and others took to the floor to dance the Traditional Akuapem fontomfrom. The dancers were incredibly talented, and their movements sharp and precise. Each dance was expressive, with the tiniest gestures and movements packed with so much meaning.
Many attendees were happy and proud of Paa Kwasi Sam for the well-planned and fitting celebrations. Joyce Agyekum summed it up by saying, “I have been attending funerals in Chicago for more than 15 years. I have never seen any funeral better organized than this”
As usual , the legend, Nana Yaw Marfo, was excellent at the helm of affairs.
The main celebrations and burial come off in Ghana on October 15, 2022, at Okyeame Asiedu’s House, behind GBC Akropong Akuapem.
