George Nyamweno Onsongo

The late George Nyamweno Onsongo, our father, your son, brother, nephew, uncle, cousin, and friend, was born on June 22, 1979. He was the beloved eldest child of career and now retired teachers, Michael Onsongo Nyamweya and Jane Onsongo Nyamweya. He was a loving father to Courtney Amain Onsongo, and Xavier Markel Onsongo, and brother to Selpha Kerubo Onsongo, Justus Ogati Onsongo, and Judith Nyaboke Onsongo.

Early Life & Schooling:

George was born in Kisii, Southwest Kenya, where he had his early childhood life. He began his educational journey at St. Mary’s Primary School, Mosocho – Kisii, and after his stellar performance there, he was admitted to the prestigious Alliance High School from 1993 to 1997. He graduated with straight As and top honors.

His College Life & Settling in America:

His hunger and thirst for higher education saw him move from Kenya to the United States in 1998, initially but briefly staying in the city of Baytown, before relocating to Austin, Texas where he made it home. Soon thereafter, he enrolled and attended college at Huston-Tillotson University, where he studied Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science from 1999-2005.

His Career:

George was very self-driven and illustrious throughout his working life. He worked for several technology companies in the Austin area over the years, among them:

Sales Account Manager at Dell Inc. from Jan 2002 – Dec 2006, where he handles sales in the corporate account division; Test Engineer at Applied Materials Inc. from Mar 2007 – Mar 2008, where he tasked with building and testing simulators for wafer processing testing as well as handling preventive maintenance on test fixtures; Electro- Mechanical Engineer at Accretech Inc., from Mar 2008 – Jun 2008, where he worked on building of electrical and mechanical wafer grinding machines; Territory Account Manager at SHI International Inc., from Jul 2008 – Jan 2010; and then back as an Engineering Test technician IV at Applied Materials Inc where he conducted troubleshooting, configuring both hardware and software, training semiconductor Robotic software on microchip processing tools. At the time of his death, he was a Manufacturing Engineer supporting the Factory Interface.

As you know, my father was very likeable and was loved by many. His Manager at Applied Materials Inc., said “George was our to go guy for help to resolve technical test issues and trained many other techinicians and engineers on the FI functionality.”

Another former co-worker Clare Tyson quipped, “George was wonderful to work with, and he always came in with a great attitude and wonderful work ethics.”

Social & Marital Life:

Over the years, George met and made many friends all over, but especially in the Austin area. He met Ms. Latise Reed in 2000 and the two got married in 2001. In June of 2002, they had their first child, their daughter, Courtney and then in June of 2004, they had their second child and son, Xavier. Though George and Latise later parted, they both have remained committed to the raising of their two children.

In the last few years of his life, George has battled with ill health, especially after he was diagnosed with diabetes. Despite his health challenges, he always remained a truly genuine and generous friend and family man who deeply cared for his children, his parents and siblings back in Kenya.

George will forever be loved and missed.