Rachel Nwaogwugwu

Lolo Rachel Nwahunna Nwaogwugwu was an earth angel gifted to this world on February 16, 1939, through her parents Pastor Emmanuel and Mrs. Lydia Ahudi Onumaegbu (nee Nwamuma Ikpeazu) in Ukpakiri, in the Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria. She was the beloved baby girl of two cherished daughters the couple was blessed to call their own. Rachel looked up to her big sister, Betsy, and adored her parents. She grew in a loving environment and that love poured out of Rachel into everything she did, becoming synonymous with who she was in the world.

In Nigeria, Rachel was a consummate athlete. Rachel ran and played sports from the time she was five until she was 26 years of age. She attended Adventist Teacher’s Training College in Ihie. Each year, she would collect many prizes. Her trophies and prizes invaded the whole of her parents’ house. When she got married in Nigeria in 1962 to her husband, Josiah Nwaogwugwu, she did not need to buy anything because she had it all from the prizes she had previously won over the years. By the time Rachel finished running in college, her list of prizes was innumerable.

Rachel was always a genuine and peaceful person of authenticity. A breath of calm wind and starburst of smiles and sunshine. If you ask anyone who knew her, they will agree that she was a warm-hearted, beautiful woman, with a kind spirit. As a mother, she sacrificed daily for the success of her five children. Lovingly called Obidiya, meaning her husband’s heart, Rachel was cherished deeply by her husband, who treasured her love above all else. Once Rachel left Nigeria to join her husband in Berrien Springs, Michigan, the two were inseparable. Inevitably, their move to Chicago

marked the beginning of a remarkable chapter together, defined by enduring love and continual growth. Rachel had the strong foundation of a forever union in her marriage to her husband of sixty-three years.

Her love for her Nigerian heritage and Igbo ethnicity was evident in her membership to cultural community and organizations like Ngwa National Association, Chicago Chapter. Rachel was a groundbreaking pioneer of the Nigerian Igbo community in Chicago. She was quiet yet powerful. She was also a Lolo, which is a respected, traditional title for the first wife of a chief, essentially meaning Queen or First Lady. Her home in Beverly/Morgan Park was even the humble beginnings of the Nigerian Seventh Day Adventist Church, now called New Hope Church. Services were held in her living room and would spill over into her dining room area. Rachel was a great cook and would provide meals made with love and intention to strengthen the body of the congregation and enrich the soul.

Her home was also the setting for countless Ngwa meetings and was a place where many in the community felt comfortable to stop by for food and fellowship. Rachel was a very well respected and valued matriarch of the Chicago-Nigerian community and foundational to the international flavor Chicago savors.

She and her husband Josiah were one of the first families to open their homes to countless Nigerians who came to Chicago to start a new life and have since become nurses, doctors and respectable citizens of the greater Chicagoland area. As an immigrant, Rachel worked three jobs while going to nursing school to continue to

provide for her five children when Josiah went back to Nigeria for an unexpected, extended stay. Rachel attended Roosevelt University and became a nurse at Cook County hospital, where she served in the emergency room for over thirty years.Helping people was her joy and she truly lived to serve her fellow human being. As a health professional, she contributed to the health and wellness of those in her care with compassion. She retired from Cook County Hospital in 2013.

Her love for her Creator, faith, ministry and worship was evident in the way she engaged with the world. She never complained when life gave her lemons instead of champagne. She could flow like water from trouble, tempest, turbulence back to her place of tranquility, no matter what the circumstance. Rachel was a proud and longstanding member of the church choir and would sit in the choir section every Sabbath day, whether the choir were singing or not. Her love for faith-filled music was obvious to anyone that watched her sing her soprano notes with joy and purpose.

Among all the athleticism she displayed in the early days of her life, the one trait that she would leave as her defining heirloom was that she was ọgbaọsọ, a runner, in body and spirit. This ability became a gift to mark her stamina and resilience when life was bittersweet. During the latter season of her remarkable existence, Rachel kept a pace in life that was not too fast or kept her lagging in the background. Her pace was her grace. She walked with quiet power. Not meek but measured. Her ability to keep going and remain kind even when Covid, prolonged sickness and old age tried to claim her

vitality, is her greatest power.

Rachel’s ability to endure the battles that could not kill the body and maintain her strength of spirit is a lesson she passed down like a baton on life’s track and field. Her incorruptible soul glow during the tests became the source of countless testimonies. Her legacy of perseverance with grace has been witnessed and handed down as a priceless inheritance to her daughters, sons and grandchildren.

It is with our eyes lifted toward the hills and our heavy hearts rejoicing in praise that the Nwaogwugwu family declare Rachel Nwahunna Nwaogwugwu, loving and loyal wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, and pillar of her global community, has fought her earthly battles in the flesh and run her final race.

On December 30th, 2025 at 86 years of age, Rachel crossed the finish line into the realm of spirit and is now an ancestor, sleeping in her Savior. May she dwell in the secret place of the most High, for evermore.

Rachel is survived by her devoted husband, Chief, Professor and Elder Josiah Nnabugwu Nwaogwugwu, and her beloved children Dr. Nnamdi Chidi (son) & Mrs. Felita Nwaogwugwu, Mr. Chijioke & Mrs. Adaku Nnenna Jimonu (daughter), Dr. Jan & Mrs. Chinyere Uchechi Nwaogwugwu-Hochtritt (daughter), Mr. Juan Miguel & Mrs.Ugochi Uloma Nwaogwugwu-Capote (daughter) and Mr. Mbaukwu Dike (son) & Mrs.Nneka Nwaogwugwu, her stepbrothers Mr. Chinkata Kelechi & Mrs. Hellens IfyAkuoma Onumaegbu, Mr. Iheanyichukwu Victor & Mrs. Florence Onyinyechi Onumaegbu and Mr. Eric Chukwuemeka & Mrs. Onyedikachi Eleleme (stepsister).

Nieces and nephews – Chinkiram Monday, Chioma Ellen, Uzoije Daniel, Oluchi Joy, Nnamdi Joshua, Ebere Victor, Nnabo Charles and Ikechi Henry. Grandchildren – Onno, Toya, Kalaei, Nnamdi, Ramiah, Michael, Destiny, D’Favor, Kyairla Kayla, Imani, Nia & Emmanuel.

Her quiet power, calm spirit, pure heart and kind soul will be remembered by those who had the opportunity to know her. We miss Rachel dearly and will always smile when we think of her fondly. May she continue to live in our hearts and abide in the shadow of the Almighty.