Dedicated to Cecilia Tweneboa-Kodua

Born in Bremen Ochisua on 6 May 1958, Cecilia Asi Mensah was
the youngest of ten children of Madame Yaa Mintaah Nimo and
Mr. Kweku Mensah. Shortly after her birth, Yaa Mintaah and Kweku Mensah separated. Yaa Mintaah, a hard working farmer raised her children with discipline, love and compassion and it was from there that Cecilia learned much of the qualities that made her such an extraordinary human being.

In her early years as a child, Cecilia called Bremen Ochisoa home until she was five, when her elder brother convinced their mother that Cecilia would have better opportunities to accomplish more in life if she left the small town to live in the city of Accra. Life in Accra, however did not unfold as she had hoped and Cecilia endured some difficult years living with her brother. At age ten, Cecilia was taken to Community Five in Tema by her elder sister Adwoa Tawiah and her husband George Kojo Boamah, where she lived with them briefly before returning to Bremen Ochisoa to live with her mother.

Though she enjoyed being back in the company of her mother and her siblings, her experiences in Accra and Tema instilled in her a dream of one day having a family of her own, which she could shower with love and compassion. In the following years, Cecilia attended school to further her education, taking a special interest in Mathematics, History and Geography, until she graduated in 1975.

In 1976, she met Kofi Twneboa-Kodua, a teacher and son of Robert Akwesi Asumadu, a well-respected elder in the Bremen Ochisoa community. Cecilia and Kofi's relationship quickly blossomed and they married in 1977. In 1979, at age just twenty one, their first child Clifford was born and two years later, they welcomed their daughter Jeretta. Between 1984 and 1987, Cecilia had two more sons, Victor and Ronald – thus realising her childhood dream of having a family to call her own.

1991 saw Kofi migrate to Australia and in the years that followed, Cecilia took to the task of raising her four young children with the same discipline, love and compassion she had learned from her mother. On 1 April 1993, Cecilia migrated to Australia with her four children. In the years following her migration, Cecilia worked extremely hard to give her family a better life, working for Spotless Facility Services and Capital Executive Apartment Hotel simultaneously until chronic arthritis forced her to endure two knee replacements in the space of five years.
After this brief setback, Cecilia returned to work at the Capital Executive Apartment and Hotel working as hard as ever to feed her vision of creating a better life for her family.

On 24 February 2017, she passed away while visiting her sister in Accra. Cecilia accomplished many things in her life, but undoubtedly family was her greatest achievement. From realising her dream of having her own family to helping all of her children to attain higher education and becoming a grandmother - she took great joy from these non-material accomplishments and held her grandchildren, especially, very close to her heart.

Rest in peace mum, we know you are in a better place and one day we shall meet again.We love and miss you dearly.