DR. WANJOHI WACIUMA

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Wanjohi Waciuma. From the worlds of academia to business, he journeyed through his career with passion and resolve. His drive took him through more than 8 decades of life, working on multiple continents, and raising a loving family.

Wanjohi was born in Kandara, in Muranga District, Kenya. His early years were shaped by his parents, Lewis Waciuma Kaguru and Bertha Wangui Waciuma, who instilled an enduring respect for the transformational power of schools.

He attended Naaro Primary School, followed by Kagumo Intermediate and High Schools. After attending Makerere College he matriculated to Harvard College. There he earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Physics.

Wanjohi then turned his studies to focus on colonial systems. He took a position as a Research Fellow in London, investigating British Colonial policies and practices in Kenya. He then returned to Boston to complete a Masters degree in Political Science at Northeastern University. He followed this with a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in Political Science from the City University of New York. His doctoral thesis, exploring the foreign policy process of the founding fathers of the United States, was published in 1976. His scholarship led him to professorial roles at Brooklyn College and the University of Texas at Austin.

In 1981, Wanjohi left academia. He became General Manager to Kenya’s “Weekly Review”, a political-economic magazine, and to the “Nairobi Times”, a daily newspaper. In 1983, he returned to Austin Texas and studied computer science. He eventually found himself working as a computer software developer at a small and fast-growing company called Dell Computers, where he would work for two dozen years.

Upon retirement, Wanjohi returned home to Kenya to dive into entrepreneurial pursuits. He began a dhow tourism in Mombasa and opened an auto part in Thika. The business that would occupy him into his final days was Rucini Auto Garage, where he worked to service the vehicles of both consumers and of Kenya’s tea industry.

Wanjohi was husband to Nancy Helen Beshore-Waciuma, with whom he shared 15 years of marriage until her passing in 1994. He continued on as a steadfast single parent to their two boys. Wanjohi is survived by his son Lenox Waciuma Wanjohi with partner Yi Zhang, son William Kaguru Wanjohi with wife Nora Taplin-Kaguru, as well as by his granddaughter Wangui Irene Kaguru.

He was brother to the late Gladys Wambui Waciuma, the late Francis Githaiga Waciuma and the late Esther Wambui Githaiga, Jean Wanjiru Waciuma Cliffe and Lionel Cliffe, Charity Wanjiku Oparaocha and the late Christopher Oparaocha, Joyce Muthoni Nottingham and the late John Cato Nottingham, Belle Njambi Morgan, the late David Kimara Waciuma and Anne Kamwende Kimara, Anne Wamuyu Waciuma, the late James Kiongo Maina Waciuma and Gikeno Ngayuni Maina, John Lewis Waciuma, the late Edward Gacii Waciuma, Anne Wanja Waciuma and Fritz Walchli.

He was brother in law to the late Margaret Ellen Beshore Boonstra and the late Clarence A. Boonstra, the late

William Lenox Beshore and Martha Arrieta Beshore.

He was a cousin, uncle, and friend to many.

There will be a public memorial service Monday, June 10th at Naaro-Mucungwa homestead, Kandara, Muranga county at 12:00 pm. The burial will be a private ceremony only for close family on a separate day.