Larger than life: Bennett Oramasionwu made an impact in Nigerian community

Bennett Oramasionwu was a quiet man who let his big heart and boundless generosity speak for him with family, friends and Winnipeg's Nigerian community

By: Julia-Simone Rutgers

During the summers of the mid-1970s, when the Red River was flush with fish, Bennett Oramasionwu could often be found in Lockport, casting his line into the rushing waters.

"When you’d go fishing in those ’70s, our hooks are usually about five hooks on the line, and when you put your bait on those five hooks and cast it in the river, all those five hooks might catch five fish at the same time," younger brother Geoffrey Oramasionwu recalls with a chuckle.

"We would fill our trunk with fish, processing it and drying it — and that’s our winter fish supply."

Some of the fish, sure enough, would be stored for winter. The rest, however, would be redistributed to friends and family — along with abundant supplies of tomatoes, potatoes and okra harvested from the garden Bennett Oramasionwu kept.

Food was only one of the many generous gifts the man who died May 22 in Winnipeg, at age 73, would provide for his community.

"Sometimes, the most humble of acts can create a legacy," Linda Oramasionwu-Leverette says, describing her father’s impact.

"I actually, truly believe that he just cared for people and… I think that built his legacy and is what people remember him for. They remember him for being a generous person, they remember him for being a peacemaker. That was not some grand ambition or design, but more just the day-to-day interactions with people."

In and around Winnipeg, especially the family’s southeast neighbourhood, everyone knew Oramasionwu.

At the bank, grocery store or a mall cellphone kiosk, people would know him by his face, smile and propensity for a good joke.

"With the people who knew him, his name carried weight in cred," says his daughter Florence. "He took the time to build relationships."

Oramasionwu was born mid-summer 1946 in the town of Nwewi, in Anambra State, Nigeria, to parents Gabriel and Pauline. He attended Union Secondary School Awkunanaw Enugu, and grew up learning to fish and farm in his hometown.

When the Nigerian Civil War broke out in 1967, he was conscripted to serve in the health and emergency unit. At the conclusion of the war in 1970, Oramasionwu attended the Institute of Management and Technology Enugu, later accepting an appointment as a grade-school teacher.

A few years later, he left Nigeria with "a suitcase, a few belongings and not much money," Geoffrey says. Eldest brother Ernest had already immigrated to Western Canada with Geoffrey.

With Ernest’s sponsorship, Oramasionwu joined them, settling in Winnipeg in 1974 and making the city home for the rest of his life.

In his early Winnipeg years, Oramasionwu worked for Bell Foundry, later attending Red River College, where he earned a diploma in boiler engineering technology.

He devoted more than 30 years to the City of Winnipeg as a pool technician, mainly working on municipal pools. During that time, he also earned an environmental science degree from the University of Winnipeg, and eventually started an independent pool consulting business.

"My dad was a hard worker. When I say hard, I mean if I could put it in (a) font right now it would be bold with three underlines," says Florence. "He never complained, he just did what he had to do. He was one of those people; he kept his eye on the prize and his nose to the grindstone."

Oramasionwu met his wife, Ngozi, in Winnipeg. The two would go on to have four children: Maureen, Florence, Linda and Donald.

In his endless spirit of giving, Oramasionwu became instrumental in launching the Umunna (lgbo) Cultural Association of Manitoba — a Nigerian cultural affinity group that met frequently for discussions and community events.

"Home was Winnipeg, but it was also Nigeria," Linda says. "For those within the Nigerian community, there was that sense of warmth of home and familiarity."

His children said the highlight of the cultural centre events was the Christmas party; African Santa brought gifts to a rented church hall, music blared, people danced and food was shared.

"My parents were very proud of their culture," says Florence. "It felt like it brought Nigeria to Winnipeg."

Oramasionwu prioritized culture, community and good education. Several family members credit him with being instrumental in their own education, Florence says.

"It was because of your dad that I was able to go through university or college," she heard time and time again.

Oramasionwu also sponsored and supported family members hoping to come to North America and helped any way he could after they arrived: finding housing, delivering groceries or just checking up.

He watched every one of his son’s CFL games (Donald played three seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and won a Grey Cup in 2015 with Edmonton) and was known to wear sweaters emblazoned with his son’s team logo or his daughter’s law school crest. Oramasionwu also loved the NHL and would fill the house with snacks and the smell of the barbecue on game nights.

"You’d see him in the winter — he built a fireplace and he relaxed there and hosted relatives, had people over. Being with his family in front of the fireplace: that was something that he loved," Linda says.

Oramasionwu is survived by his wife and four children, his stepmother, three brothers and a sister, and several nieces, nephews and grandchildren.

"He was a quiet man, but I now look back and realize that he was a visionary," Florence says.

"He taught us to be peacemakers. To love others and to create relationships, because at the end of the day relationships with human beings... means so much more than physical things that you can acquire."

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca