Service held in student’s memory

A memorial service was held Thursday at Libbey Hall for Faith Amuzu, a former student at the University of Toledo who died in a car accident while driving back to campus over winter break.

Amuzu was born in Accra, Ghana, and was a sophomore transfer student majoring in pharmacy.

At least 95 students attended the memorial and shared their memories of Amuzu.

"I made a scrapbook with all the pictures that we had of him," said Student Government President Krystal Weaver. "We had a memory book that people wrote their memories of him in for the family to take back."

Faith's father James Amuzu flew into Toledo for the memorial service from Ghana on Thursday and was picked up from the airport by Interim Dean of Students Michele Martinez.

Martinez said everyone has been reaching out to Amuzu's father since he arrived in Toledo.

"There's a small group of people in Toledo who are from Ghana and all weekend they have been taking him out to dinner and trying to make him feel welcome," Martinez said. "We're trying very hard to give him everything he needs to bury his son."

Balar Tarawally, a freshman majoring in nursing, said he remembers Amuzu as being a very hard worker.

"I met him last semester at Carter [Hall]. He was very hardworking and used what he had to provide for himself. He was involved with the community and was even applying to be a resident adviser. Faith was very dedicated," he said.

Tarawally attended the memorial service and spoke with Amuzu's father who he says is doing well.

"Faith always talked about his father and how much he loved him," he said. "He spoke of his father highly and appreciated how his father raised him."

Tarawally recalled his memories of spending time with Amuzu.

"I remember the night after finals. He called me and left me a message asking for a favor. He wanted to drive back to Maryland, but the weather was bad. He asked if he could stay at my house in Columbus. He spent time with my family and even helped put up the Christmas tree. He really loved my house and family," he said.

Vice President of the African Peoples Association Idris Yakubu, a sophomore majoring in pharmacy, said Amuzu was his "very good friend."

"We're both pharmacy majors and we had a lot of things to relate to each other," Yakubu said. "We had so many things to talk about, from things that happened back in Africa to things about pharmacy, to sports. We were both soccer fans and we liked the same teams so we always talked about who won and who lost."

Weaver said she did not know Amuzu personally, but is sad she did not get to know him.

Amuzu will be buried in Toledo at the request of his father, Martinez said.

"I did not know until [Amuzu's father] came here that he wanted him buried in Toledo," she said. "I assumed that he would want him to go back to Ghana with him, but he explained to me that the last time he talked to [Amuzu], he told him that he had so many friends in Toledo and everyone loved him so he knows that [Amuzu] would want to be buried here."

Amuzu's father said it would be too heartbreaking to bring Amuzu back to Ghana and bury him in his village in Accra, according to Martinez.

After hearing Amuzu's story, the Walker Funeral Home offered to give Amuzu a burial service for free, a service that normally would cost $36,000, according to Martinez.

Martinez said Amuzu's father still needs $1,000 to pay for the cemetery plot, which the UT community is helping to raise.

"Some students have already raised money and I know that some of them are putting a t-shirt to sell together to help defer the cost as well," Martinez said. "The UT foundation also donated the land, but we still have to pay for the opening and closing of it."

Tarawally said he still remembers the day he heard the news of Amuzu's death.

"He left for Maryland and I remember talking to him a week before classes started," he said. "I told him about my grades and he told me to work harder. I tried contacting him after that and didn't find out later until I was told by the hall director he passed away in an accident."

Martinez said a wide variety of students came to pay their respect to Amuzu and meet his father.

"It was so wonderful," she said. "There were students from all walks of life there. They knew him from their pharmacy classes; they knew him from organizations he was in. Everyone talked about his smile and how easy he was to talk to and to be friends with and how much they missed him."

It was important for the African Peoples Association to show their support for Amuzu's father, Yakubu said.

"I feel like having [Amuzu's] father come all the way from Africa, it was important to have Africans come and show him support and say we've lost a brother, we've lost a friend," he said. "Toledo was [Amuzu's] home away from home. Here he has African brothers."

Amuzu's body was located in West Virginia last weekend and will be shipped to Ohio soon to be buried, Martinez said.

"This whole thing shows the little things that we take for granted in our friendships with people," Martinez said. "The really amazing thing was that he was only here for one semester. It's hard to think of how many more lives he would have touched if he would have been with us longer."