Alice Eromeise "Mama" Osula

It is with heavy hearts that we announce that our precious and beloved mother, Alice (“Mama”) Eromeise Osula, was promoted to glory on October 4, 2025, at 4:45am, at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center in Virginia, USA at 92 years of age.

Alice, a woman of unwavering faith, boundless generosity, and remarkable resilience, was born on June 6, 1933, in Uhonmora, Edo State, Nigeria. Alice lived a life that spanned multiple continents and decades of profound influence. Her journey was marked not by the ease of her path, but by her resolute determination to repeatedly rebuild with grace and an unshakeable trust in God.

From 1953 to 1961, Alice served as a Captain in the Salvation Army, where she also played the trombone — her music, a testament to her spirited nature. Her final posting was in Ebute Metta, Lagos, where her leadership and compassion touched countless lives.

Alice was a woman of many talents and professions. She managed ‘The Belgravia’, a high-end department store in Lagos, Nigeria and later worked as a paediatric nurse in London. Her most trying and remarkable chapter began in 1972, when she was widowed at the tender age of 39 years and a mother to five young children. With characteristic determination, she opened ‘Refreshment Corner’, a restaurant near the Magistrate Court in Yaba, Lagos, where she became known for feeding everyone who walked through her doors—from lawyers to defendants, the powerful and the powerless alike.

Alice travelled widely, living in London during the 1960s before moving back to Lagos in the 1970s. She returned to the UK in the ‘80s, spending nearly three decades in Barnet, Hertfordshire where she welcomed family, friends, and newcomers alike. In 2014, Alice relocated to Maryland, USA, then moved to Suffolk, Virginia in 2023. Despite constant changes, her kindness, resilience, and faith remained steadfast, leaving a lasting impression on everyone she met.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Aiwaguore Andrews Osula (aka “Papa” to her immediate family, or “Captain,” his rank when he retired from the Salvation Army in 1961) and granddaughter, Adesua Alicia Osula. Alice is survived by her five children, Charles Osula, Wilfred Osula, Bramwell Osula, Abel Osula, and Patience Osula; twelve grandchildren, Gemma Osula, Amber Osula, Georgia O'Connor, Alex Osula, Callan Osula, Andrew Osula, Adrian Osula, Michelle Osula, Abel Osula, Chillel Bailey, Andrea Osula, and Adesua Osula: and eight great-grandchildren, Imayah, Asiyah, Ayana, Elijah, Aria, Amari, Elias, and Baby O'Connor.

Mama was a kind and loving mother—not only to her own children, but to the countless souls she touched throughout her long and purposeful life. Her memory will be a blessing to all who knew her, including her extended family and friends - Rhona Aarons, Abimbola Osula, Donna Osula, Stefania Ianne, Julie Richards, Gwen Williams, Lina Minardi, Carmela Pulli, Myra Wright, Deborah Allen, John McCulloh, and The Unuigbe, Omogenafen, Alufohai, Kujore, Ayanru, Odonkor, Essien, Bailey, Simpson, Matthew, Owokoniran, Sodeke-Oyewole, Eke, O’Connor, Ogunaike, Pandita families, and the Salvation Army.

The family invites her friends and family members to share their fond memories or pictures on her memorial site using the ‘Add a Memory’ link below. In addition, should you wish to make a donation in honor of Alice, feel free to donate to any of the charities below: