Princess Mrs. Clara Adewoyin Awosika (nee Adeniyi) was born January 25th, 1916 to the royal family of Prince Michael Adeniyi and Mrs. Omorotola Adeniyi in Ile-Oluji, Ondo, Nigeria. Her siblings were Eunice, Rachel, John and Adewale. She passed on to glory in her sleep on December 5th, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. She is preceded by her husband, Charles and her daughter, Mogbonjubola and succeeded by her children, Temidayo, Kolawole, Oladipo, Temitope, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Though born into a royal family, Clara Awosika’s story is one that starts from humble beginnings in pre-modern Nigerian times. In the 1920s and 30s, Clara was raised by Mrs. Esther Aina (Mama Odoyeighe, Iye Mopin) in Ile- Oluji. From a very early age, Clara was a woman of faith and an entrepreneur. She consistently attended St. Peters Anglican Church in Ile-Oluji and traded trans-regionally between Ile-Oluji, Ipetu, Ilesha, Ile-Ife, Ibadan and Lagos; a feat that was accomplished in those pre-modern years by carrying the merchandise on one’s head and walking the whole distance in the scorching sun of the day and the perilous jungles of the night. Clara moved to Ibadan in 1933 to live with her sister, late Chief Mrs. R.A. Adelogbe (M.O.N. awarded by President Olusegun Obasanjo). While in Ibadan, she worked as a tailor and shortly after, she was fiercely courted by a lovely young man by the name of Mr. Charles Olamoyege Awosika. In 1938, Charles and Clara got married, moved to Lagos and started their new family. During their stay in Lagos, they had Daniel Temidayo Awosika, Victoria Olajumoke Mogbonjubola Ogunribido (Nee Awosika), and Sunday Kolawole Awosika. By 1954, the family moved back to Ondo Town and there they had Collins Oladipo Awosika and Comfort Temitope Imolorhe (nee Awosika). Charles owned and managed a pharmacy store while Clara continued to trade items locally and trans-regionally.
Clara’s children were her top priority in every decision she made. She took up the responsibility of being the bread-winner of the household when Charles suddenly passed away in October 1959. To make ends meet locally, she gave up inter-state trading for selling Eko and Eko Leaves, selling off most of her belongings including her clothes, fine china sets and more. Education was also a very high priority for Clara so she made sure her children continued to receive quality education. Clara made the excruciating decision to separate her children amongst family members, as she moved back to Lagos in 1962. In Lagos, she worked at the Wesley School for the Deaf. Clara was part of the “Glory Years” of the Wesley School, dedicating this chapter of her working life to tend and care for less fortunate children . She was a mother, not just to her own children, but to everyone she came in contact with and believed fiercely in the potential of every child.
...you could still find Clara every morning, watching her exercise programs on television and exercising along with her little dumbbell weights, reading her bible, singing, dancing, and praising God.
Clara retired from her work with disabled children in the early 80’s to start caring for her grandchildren both nationally and internationally; a child care that sometimes started in the delivery room. After the tragic loss of her daughter, Late Mrs. Victoria Olajumoke Mogbonjubola Ogunribido in 1990, Clara, along with Mrs. Temitope Imolorhe took care of the newly born Yetunde Ogunribido as her own child. Clara later moved to the United States of America in 1995 and helped care for her grandchildren there. First to Chicago, Illinois to care for her grandchildren from Oladipo, then to Gary, Indiana in 1999 to care for her grandchildren from Kolawole. While at Gary, Clara worked at the Alternative House, an emergency shelter for local runaway, homeless, abused, or neglected children. She had returned to helping less fortunate children and for this feat, an article about this Nigerian woman, from the small town of Ile-Oluji, was published in a major American publication. Clara, famously called the “Mother of everyone”, showed that even at 83, she could still make a sizable impact in the world around her.
Clara’s final move was in 2006 to Chicago where she stayed with her granddaughter Mrs. Susan Moricette (Nee Ogunribido) and her husband Mr. Ben Moricette. This also marked the phase of her second harvest – Great-grandchildren! Clara was opportuned to spread more love to yet another generation of her great legacy. In her final years from her 90s until death, you could still find Clara at 6:30am every morning, watching her exercise programs on television and exercising along with her little dumbbell weights. You could also still find her reading her bible, singing, dancing, and praising God. She walked to the grocery store behind her house, cooked, cleaned and proved to be very self-capable even until those closing moments of her life. This was a sure testament to her resilience in life. She peacefully took her last breath in her sleep surrounded by loved ones at her home.
From your royal blood on earth we bid you farewell and celebrate your royal reception into the arms of our heavenly Father.
