His Honorary Congressman Mr. Ketebo Degssisso was born on September 24, 1933, in Assela, Ethiopia, from his father Mr. Degssisso Bedasso and his mother Mrs. Lotti Gosa. He grew up in Assela and when he had completed his elementary school, he went on to Teferi Mekonnen High School in Addis Ababa where he was a track and field athlete and won several medals as a 100 meters dash sprinter. Later he joined Kotebe Teacher Training Institute and after he had finished his training, he came back to Assela as a teacher. He married his wife Mrs. Felekech Agu before moving on to serve in the ministry of Agriculture. His great accomplishments and his leadership skills earned him a scholarship to Beirut American University for advanced study in agriculture and agronomy. He was the first in his family to attend college.
After returning from Beirut, he took a prominent leading role helping implement introduction of advanced farming technologies to farmers in the Arsi region. He led several projects during his service in the Ministry of Agriculture. One of his major contributions included his work with the Chilalo Agriculture Development Unit (CADU) in partnership with the Swedish International Development Aid (SIDA). As one of the early pioneers and educated individuals in the community, he helped to modernize the local agricultural industry and helped advance community development projects. As part of his leadership role, he went on to Cairo American University for advanced training in his field.
Influenced by his leadership, his community elected him as a representative to the Ethiopian parliament for two terms during the Haile Selassie regime where he represented the Chilalo region. In his role as a member of the parliament, he worked to make a significant contribution to the advancement of the living conditions of the local agrarian community he represented. He played a role in reform of land use and equitable land distribution to the local people. His efforts were key in introducing new seed to farmers which significantly improved their production and harvest. He also owned and operated his own farm and was kind and generous in helping those who were in need through his harvest. As a liaison and a strong bridge between the local people and The CADU institutes and he encouraged farmers to try new seeds of corn in the area. The local farmers were so impressed by their high yield and named the new type of corn “Ketebo’s Corn”.
Following the revolution that ended his service in the parliament in 1974, he took a new challenging post and managed large scale government owned farms and served in the ministry of Agriculture leading several agricultural projects in various regions of the country. He retired after many years of service. He was highly successful; he was a focused and results-oriented leader who left a permanent perpetual legacy of change. His efforts and personal endeavors left a lasting imprint on farming communities all over Ethiopia especially in the Chilalo and Arsi regions. He was a partner in bringing a resounding economic change in our community by blending the modern farming techniques and traditional mode of life for everyone.
Some years after he retired, he immigrated to the United States in 2002 with his wife to be close to his children and grandchildren and lived in the Seattle area. He enjoyed taking long walks and spending time with his grandchildren, caring for and admiring them every moment. He loved God and was deeply committed to his family. He was loved and adored by everyone who knew and met him. He fell ill and was hospitalized before his passing on September 29, 2021.
He was described by many as humble, caring, loving, kind, strong, a helper and uplifter of others, joyful, always smiling, and a man with a positive spirit. He was well regarded by his peers for his outstanding achievements and great character. He inspired the youth and encouraged them to pursue education. He was a role model to the youth as well as to his colleagues. He was a statesmen and pioneer, a silent giant, a man of few words but of great stature and unparalleled influence. He is survived by his wife Mrs. Felekech Agu to whom he was married for 68 years, 8 children and 12 grandchildren. We dearly miss him and pray to God to keep him in peace and hold him in his loving hands.
Verse
1 Corinthians 15:50-53
“I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”
Proverbs 17:17
“A friend loves at all times”
Quote
“The task of the leader is to take his people from where they are to where they have not been.”
Henry Kissinger
ያባታችን የክቡር አቶ ከተቦ ደግሲሶ አጭር የሕይወት ታሪክ
ዉድ አባታችን ክቡር አቶ ከተቦ ደግሲሶ እንደ አውሮፓዊያን አቆጣጠር መስከረም 24 ቀን 1933 ዓ.ም በአሰላ ከተማ ከአባታቸው ከግራዝማች ደግሲሶ በዳሶ እና ከእናታቸው ከወይዘሮ ሎቲ ጎሳ ተወለዱ። በአሰላ ከተማ አድገው ዕድሚያቸው ለትምህርት ሲደርስ በአሰላ አንደኛ ደረጃ ትምህርታቸውን ካጠናቀቁ በኋላ ወደ አዲስ አበባ ተፈሪ መኮንን ሁለተኛ ደረጃ ትምህርት ቤት በመሄደ ትምህርታቸውን እየተከታተሉ የትራክ እና የሜዳ አትሌት ሯጭ ሆነው በተለያዩ ውድድሮች ተካፍይ በመሆን በርካታ ሜዳሊያዎችን አሸንፈዋል። በኋላም ወደ ኮልፌ መምህራን ማሠልጠኛ ተቋም ሄደው ትምህርታቸውን እንደጨረሱ ወደ አሰላ ተመልሰው መምህር በመሆን አገልግለዋል።ከዚያም በግብርና ሚኒስቴር ውስጥ ማገልገል ከመጀመራቸው በፊት ከወይዘሮ ፈለቀች ኤጉ ጋር ትዳራቸውን መሠረቱ ። በግብርና ሚኒስቴር ውስጥ በማገልገል ላይ እንዳሉ ለከፍተኛ ጥናት ወደ ቤይሩት አሜሪካ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ሄደው ትምህርታቸውን ተከታትለዋል። ከቤተሰቡ ውስጥ የኮሌጅ ትምህርት ያጠናቀቁ የመጀመሪያው ነበሩ።
ከቤይሩት ከተመለሱ በኋላ በአርሲ ክልል ለሚገኙ አርሶ አደሮች የተራቀቁ የግብርና ቴክኖሎጂዎችን ማስተዋወቅ በተግባር ትልቅ የመሪነት ሚና ተጫውተዋል። በግብርና ሚኒስቴር ውስጥ ባገለገሉበት ወቅት በርካታ ፕሮጀክቶችን መርተዋል። ከዋና ዋናዎቹ አስተዋፆዎቻቸው አንዱ ከስዊድን ዓለም አቀፍ የልማት ዕርዳታ (SIDA) ጋር በመተባበር ከጭላሎ እርሻ ልማት ድርጅት (CADU) ውስጥ ሆነው ለሀገር ጠቃሚ የሆኑ ብዙ ሥራዎችን አጠናቀዋል። በማኅበረሰቡ ውስጥ ቀድመው የተማሩ ግለሰብ እንደመሆናቸው ፣ የአከባቢውን የግብርና ኢንዱስትሪ በማዘመን እና የላቀ የማህበረሰብ ልማት ፕሮጀክቶችን መሪ በመሆን ውጤታማ እንዲሆን አድርገዋል። በአመራር ሚናቸው መልካም ውጤት በማሳየታቸውና በታታሪነታቸው የተነሳ ለከፍተኛ ስልጠና ወደ ካይሮ አሜሪካ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ተልከው ትምህርታቸውን ተከታትለዋል።
በማኅበረሰቡ ውስጥ ባላቸው የአመራር ችሎታና ልምድ ምክንያት በቀድሞው ንጉሥ ሀይለስላሴ ዘመን የፓርላማ ተወካይ ሆነው ለሁለት ጊዜ ተመርጠው የጭላሎን አውራጃ ሕዝብ ወክለው በምክር ቤት አባልነት ሠርተዋል። በፓርላማው አባልነት ከሌሎች የፓርላማ ዓባላት ጋር አብረው በተጫወቱት ሚና እሳቸው ለወከሉት የአከባቢው ማህበረሰብ እድገት ከፍተኛ አስተዋፅኦ አድርገዋል። የመሬት አጠቃቀምን ማሻሻያ እና ፍትሃዊ የመሬት ስርጭት ለአከባቢው ህዝብ እንዲሆን ታላቅ ሚና ተጫውተዋል። ጥረታቸው አዲስ ዘርን ለአርሶ አደሮች በማስተዋወቅ ምርታቸውን እና አዝመራቸውን በእጅጉ እንዲሻሻል አድርገዋል። በተጨማሪም የግል እርሻቸውን በማስተዳደር እና በመከር ወቅት ችግረኞችን በመርዳት ያካቢያቸውን ኅብረተሰብ ረድተዋል። በተጀመረው ዘመናዊ የተለያዩ የግብርና ዘዴዎችን ለማስተዋወቅ በተመሰረተው የጭላሎ የግብርና ድርጅት ውስጥ ሆነው በድርጅቱና በገበሬው መካከል ደልድይ በመሆን ዕቅዱ ተቀባይነት እንዲያገኝ የሚያስደንቅ ሚና ተጫውተዋል። በዚያን ጊዜ ለገበሬዎች ሲታደል በነበረው ያዲስ ግኝት የበቆሎ ዘር ገበሬው በምርቱ ተደስቶ “የከተቦ ቦቆሎ” በማለት ሰይሞታል።
የፓርላማው አገልግሎታቸው በጊዜው በነበረው ዓብዮት ምክንያት ሲያበቃ በተለያዩ የአገሪቱ ክልሎች በርካታ የግብርና ፕሮጀክቶችን በመምራት በግብርና ሚኒስቴር ውስጥ አገልግለዋል። ከብዙ ዓመታት አገልግሎት በኋላ ጡረታ ወጥተው ነበር።
ጡረታ ከወጡ ከጥቂት ዓመታት በኋላ እንደ አውሮፓውያን አቆጣጠር በ2002 ከባለቤታቸው ጋር ከልጆቻቸዉ እና ከልጅ
ልጆቻቸውጋር ለመቀራረብ ወደ አሜሪካ መጥተው በሲያትል አካባቢ ይኖሩ ነበር። የተከበሩት አቶ ከተቦ ደግሲሶ
ሰውነታቸውን ለማፍታታት ረጅም የእግር ጉዞ በማድረግ እና ከልጅ ልጆቻቸው ጋር ጊዜያቸውን ማሳለፍ ያስደስታቸው ነበር።
እግዚአብሔርን አክባሪና ቤተሰባቸውን በጥልቅ አፍቃሪ ነበሩ። በሥራ ባልደረቦቻቸው፤ በጓደኞቻቸው፤ በዘመዶቻቸውና
በአካባቢው ሕዝብ እጅግ በጣም ተወዳጅ ሰው ነበሩ።
ባደረባቸው ሕመም ምክንያት ሆስፒታል ገብተው በሕክምና ሲረዱ ቆይተው እንደ አውሮፓውያን አቆጣጠር በመስከረም 29 ቀን 2021 ከዚህ ዓለም በሞት ተለይተዋል።
ክቡር አቶ ከተቦ ደግሲሶ እጅግ በጣም ትሁት ፣ ሰዎች ተንከባካቢ ፣ አፍቃሪ ፣ ደግ ፣ ጠንካራ ፣ ሌሎችን ረዳት እና ከፍ ከፍ የሚያደርግ ፣ ደስተኛ ፣ ልጆችን በትምህርታቸው ላይ እንዲተጉ መካሪ ፤ ሁል ጊዜ ፈገግታ የማይለያቸው እና አዎንታዊ መንፈስ ያላቸው ቅን ሰው ነበሩ። ወጣቶችን መልካም ሥራ በመሥራት ደግ የህብረተሰቡ አካላት እንዲሆኑ ባለማቋርጥ አበረታተዋል። እሳቸው ታላቅ የሀገር መሪ እና ቀዳሚ ሰው ነበሩ ፣ ዝምተኛ ቢሆኑም በተገባራቸው ሁሉ ግዙፍ ነበሩ።
አባታችን ክቡር አቶ ከተቦ ደግሲሶ ከ68 ዓመታት ባለቤታቸው ከወይዘሮ ፈለቀች ኤጉ ጋር ፣ 8 ልጆች እና 12 የልጅ ልጆች አፍርተዋል ። ውድ አባታችን በዚህ ሰዓት ከሚወዷቸውና ከሚያፈቅሯቸው ልጆቻቸው፤ ቤተሰብና ሕዝብ በመለየታቸው ጥልቅ የሆነ ኃዘን ይሰማናል፤ አምላካችን ነብሳቸውን በገነት ያኖርልን ዘንድ ፈጣሪያችንን እንለምናለን።
1 ቆሮንቶስ 15: 50-53
ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ ይህን እነግራችኋለሁ፤ ሥጋና ደም የእግዚአብሔርን መንግሥት አይወርሱም፤ የሚጠፋውም የማይጠፋውን አይወርስም። 51እነሆ፤ አንድ ምስጢር እነግራችኋለሁ፤ ሁላችን አናንቀላፋም፤ ነገር ግን ሁላችንም እንለወጣለን፤ 52ይህም የሚሆነው የመጨረሻው መለከት ሲነፋ ድንገት በቅጽበተ ዐይን ነው። መለከት ይነፋል፤ ሙታን የማይበሰብሱ ሆነው ይነሣሉ፤ እኛም እንለወጣለን። 53የሚጠፋው የማይጠፋውን፣ የሚሞተው የማይሞተውን ሊለብስ ይገባዋልና።
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v.1.11.2