Veteran journalist Philip Ochieng was laid to rest on Friday evening at his rural home in Manyatta, Awendo, Migori County.
His body was lowered into the ground at 3:30pm inside his compound in an event witnessed by his close family members after a service held at Manyatta Primary School grounds.
While giving an eulogy, Ochieng’s eldest daughter Lucy Adhiambo revealed that his late father moved closer to God as he neared his death at home and accepted God’s word.
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Speaking at the funeral service, Adhiambo said among the preachers his father watched a lot during his final days as he spent his time in the house is the renowned Joyce Meyer.
Lucy Adhiambo. PHOTO/SCREENSHOT
“Many people believed my dad was an atheist, but he moved closer to God as he neared his death. My dad loved Joyce Meyer and watched her sermons a lot. We even called in the family preacher to pray for him and he accepted it,” she said.
She narrated how life was like being the daughter of the renowned fifth columnist, who is known as the wordsmith and on and off stint at the Nation Media Group.
His youngest daughter Judith Aluoch said Ochieng was always silent and preferred to play with his grandchildren, a position backed by his grandson Philip Ochieng Junior.
“I took after him as we could sit down for hours in silence at home, and the silence was with deep meaning as it was out of respect and understanding. While he was good with his pen, he was never an orator both in public and at home,” said Aluoch.
Kenya Editors’ Guild President Churchill Otieno mourned the late Ochieng as a great journalist who mentored many journalists at NMG, in Kenya and across the world.
Today as I look into the history of the nation, Philip stands tall among a very few as a father of professional journalism,” Otieno said.
Philip Ochieng died from pneumonia while being treated at the Ombo Hospital in Migori County on April 27.
