Emotions ran high yesterday as family and friends gathered for the requiem mass of Dr James Gakara and his two children in Nakuru. 

Loved ones walked shoulder to shoulder as they entered Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Mlimani for the final service of the three ahead of their burial today.

Gakara’s wife, Winnie Odhiambo, had to be supported as she witnessed the caskets being brought to church.

In an emotion-packed tribute to Gakara, Winnie described him as a soft-spoken, warm and loving father. 

Message read by Kenya Medical Association (KMA) Nakuru branch chair Joy Mugambi, on behalf of Winnie, had nothing but praises for the late doctor. “Our marriage life was beautiful.

A  beautiful story that I would want to talk about over and over. A good marriage is not something you simply find. It is something you make and have to keep on making,” she said.

Stated she: “My husband was the best partner, a good listener and compassionate. I got everything I would ever ask for,” she said. 

Winnie narrated to the grief-stricken congregation how her husband crawled out of poverty with the help of his family and friends to make a name for himself in the competitive medical world. 

“It never ceases to amaze me how much time people waste searching endlessly for magic shortcuts to entrepreneurial success and fulfillment yet the only real path is staring them right in the face,” a quote Gakara was fondly known for,” she said. 

Overwhelmed with the disheartening news on the loss of her husband, she added: “It has come as a difficult time, as November 26 would have marked our seventh year wedding anniversary,”. 

Completely shuttered

“When you mention his name, you need not to remind me of him. Our hearts were already intertwined with our thoughts together.

It is like a movie that you watch so deeply, keenly and passionately and then it suddenly stops. I am completely shuttered.

Never in my wildest dreams have I dreamt of something like this. I do not know how my weekends will be, I do not know how my Sundays will be spent. Only God knows,” she said  

On her children Dylan Gakara and Hailey Karuana, the widow said having them was a perfect storm of emotions.  

“Didi (Dylan), when I would drag myself out of bed in the middle of cold Nakuru nights to breast-feed you, I was happier than I could ever remember.

When you made your first baby sounds, took your first step, said your first word.

It is impossible to describe the joy those moments brought us,” said Winnie. 

She said the children had a great bond. “Nine months into your childhood, we found out we were having your sister, Karuana.

My heart was full of bliss but I was more scared than I had been with you. I knew just how hard it was having one child but now I was going to have two.

I worried that my Didi would be sad, that you would think you were losing your mummy but daddy and I talked and we believed we could bring you up both together,” she added. 

She remembers her daughter,  saying they could not sleep without praying and demanding night kisses.

Her favourite  bedtime story being the “The Big bad wolf and the three piglets”.  

Amazing person

Present at the service included top brass of the KMA, who emphasised on the need for doctors’ mental health to be put on check, saying they equally suffer the brunt. 

KMA’s Joy Mugambi said Gakara was an amazing person, who played a unique and special role among all members of the medical body. 

“As we gather to say goodbye, we as an association are cognizant that mental health is not only a community programme but also affects doctors,” said Mugambi. 

Nakuru County Public Health Chief Officer Dr Daniel Wainaina said the death has dealt a big blow to the country, saying they have lost a specialist.

He emphasised on the need to embrace mental health awareness, saying medical professionals carry a lot of weight and need to address challenges they face with ease. 

Agnes Njeri, the only remaining daughter of Gakara, in her tribute, remembered him as the best father she ever had.

She said Gakara taught her to be self-independent and disciplined and follow her own paths.