DR. ANTHONY OBIESIE "TONY" OKOBI

OKOBI
DR. ANTHONY "TONY" OBIESIE, Ph.D., M.D.
Dr. Anthony "Tony" Obiesie Okobi, Ph.D., M.D., of Sanford, NC, died in Chicago, IL, on January 22, 2018, while traveling home following a joyful visit with the Wanyoike family in Kenya. Tony was a living embodiment of God's presence among us. Tony, the son of Dr. Anthony Okobi and Patricia Emodi, was born on February 4, 1976, in Onitsha, Nigeria. At about the age of 5, he was brought by his mother to Pittsburgh, PA, to live with his father and his father's Okobi family. Tony remained in Pittsburgh until his marriage, on May 23, 2009, to Ann Wanjiru "Ciru" Wanyoike, a native of Kenya, but then a resident of Boston. During his junior year in high school, Tony also became a member of the Lewis family, taking up residence with and "adopting" as part of his family his new "Dad" and "Mom", Richard and Barbara Lewis, and their children, enveloping them with joyfulness and love. Thereafter he remained a heart-joined essential member of both the Okobi and Lewis families. Tony graduated from Central Catholic High School (Pittsburgh), Cornell University (Ithaca, NY), Harvard- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D. (Cambridge, MA), and Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, M.D. (Providence, RI). To say that he was brilliant would be an understatement. An example of God's presence in Tony's life was his meeting and falling deeply in love with Ciru while Tony was working on his M.D. degree at Brown, and Ciru was living in Boston, MA, and studying at Bentley University. If he had been given the choice of all the women in the world to fall in love with, Tony could not have picked a more beautiful, wise, strong, and loving mate than Ciru. God works in mysterious ways. After their marriage, Tony and Ciru took up residence in North Carolina, where Tony practiced medicine and, in addition to being a busy wife and mother, Ciru ran a family business related to various devices Tony had invented and for which he held patents, and ultimately became a real estate agent. For the last several years, Tony's medical services were provided to the U.S. military, at Fort Bragg, NC, and elsewhere throughout the U.S. Tony and Ciru are the loving parents of three beautiful children: Patricia "Tricia" Njoki, age 5; Anthony "AJ" Wanyoike, age 2; and Rebecca "Becca" Muthoni, 8 months. Tony was predeceased by his father, Dr. Anthony Okobi; and sister, "Obi" Okobi. He is survived by his wife and children, his mother, Patricia, his "Dad" and "Mom" Richard and Barbara, his parents-in-law, Michael Wanyoike and Betty (Wairegi) Wanyoike, and his stepmother, Elsie Halliday-Okobi, and the following members of his extended family: brothers, "Chukky" Okobi, "Emmy" Okobi, Michael Okobi, John Paul Lewis, and David Lewis; sisters, "Didi" Okobi, Olivia Okobi, Margaret Okobi, Agatha Okobi, "Jill" (Lewis) Hitson, Jennifer (Lewis) Graves, Monica (Lewis) Womac, and Mary Clare (Lewis) Bunce; brothers-in-law, "Pete" Hitson, "Will" Graves, and "Jim" Womac; sisters-in-law, Natalie Okobi, Caroline Wanyoike, Kui Wanyoike, Geci Wanyoike, "Allie" Lewis and Amy Lewis; nephews and nieces, Hannah, Logan, Mbugua, Spencer, Charlie, Katy, John, James, Frank, Mia, Samantha, Jimmy, Bobby, Simon, Elise, Joe, Emily, and Henry; and Chief Celestine Okobi and the extended family in Nigeria. The memorial service will be held on February 3, 2018, at 10:00 a.m. in St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton Church, Fayetteville, NC, and burial will be on a date of the family's choosing, in Nairobi, Kenya. Tony had an enduring, generous heart that he shared with all who knew him. It is impossible to state fully how much he will be missed. Please keep Ciru, Tricia, AJ and Becca in your prayers. One of Tony's lasting gifts to his children was their mother, an independent, strong and wise woman, who, with God's help will find a way to raise them in the proud realization of the continuing presence of Tony in their lives.