Chuma N. Ononye

Gastonia resident

Dr. Chuma Nwabufo Ononye, 48, of Gastonia, died Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010 at Gaston Memorial Hospital. He was born Dec. 23, 1961 in Glasgow, Scotland, a son of the late Dr. Lawrence Azubike Ononye and Joyce Chikelu Akpom. Chuma received his high school education at Federal Government College, Warri in Delta State Warri, Nigeria and at St. Joseph's School in Dumfries, Scotland. He obtained his B.S. from University of London and subsequently went to the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland where he obtained MRCS, LRCP, and MB, BCh, BAO from the National University of Ireland. He did his house job in England before coming to the United States where he did his residency training in Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He was among the first group of physicians trained in this double certification program. After his residency training he went back to England, but after a short stay, he was off again, this time to Australia at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. He worked for a year in Australia, where significantly, he met his wife to be, Lisa Jane Thompson. Chuma returned to the USA, and Lisa joined him in Waycross, Ga., and they were married. They then moved to Gastonia, where he practiced and was employed by Emcare. He was an active member of Queen of the Apostles Catholic Church, and a proud member of the Association of Nigerian Physicians in America (ANPA) and the Gaston United Soccer Club (GUSC). Survivors of Dr. Ononye include his wife of tenyears, Lisa Thompson Ononye; daughters, Adaora and Nneka, all of Gastonia, brother and sister-in-law, Dr. Chuba and Ifeoma Ononye, and their daughter, Makua of Arizona; cousin, Olisa and Ify Nwadiogbu, and their children, Tori and Dubem of Atlanta, Ga.; and numerous other family in the United Kingdom and throughout Nigeria. A Mass to celebrate Chuma's life will be held at 4 p.m., today at Queen of the Apostles Catholic Church with Father Frank Cancro as celebrant. The family will receive friends following the service in the MAK Center at the church until 7 p.m. Serving as Honorary Pallbearers will be members of ANPA and GUSC. Interment will be held at a later date in Onisha, Nigeria where the family holds its origins. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Dr. Chuma Ononye Scholarship Fund for Girls, c/o Gaston United Soccer Club, 3434 S. New Hope Rd., Gastonia, NC 28056. Condolence messages may be sent online to www. McLeanFuneral.com. McLean Funeral Directors of Gastonia is serving the family of Dr. Ononye.