On March 29, 2021, Janet Nthamba Silla was taken up to be with the Lord, whom she loved dearly. Her legacy is firmly established in the hearts of those who knew and loved her.
Janet was preceded in death by her husband, David Mutunga Silla; her parents Rhodah Mwelu and Mutisya Ngao; her step mothers Dorcas and Mutheu; and several siblings .
Janet is survived by her children Margaret Owino (Godfrey), Josephine Ndirangu (Maj. Rtd. Wahome), Ruth Kassauer (Gunter), and Tony Silla (Katheke). She was a doting grandmother to Brian, Annete, Jane, Mueni, Chichi, Wanjiku, Mutanu, Mutheu and Stephanie; and great-grandmother to Sonia, Mutunga and Destiny.
Janet's siblings were Samuel Nzyuko, Matthew Mutisya, Joyce Koki Pius, Priscilla Kising'u, Deborah Ndolonga, Elizabeth Ndumi, Esther Mutia, Grace Julius, Peter Mutisya, Peninah Michael, Emma Maina, Mutheu Katiku, Ngomali Mutisya, Sophia Mutala, Noah Mutisya, Mbula Mulwa and George Mutisya.
Janet, who was born in 1938, was an alumna of Kamagambo Teachers College from where she graduated in 1958. After college, she taught at Karura SDA Primary School. Janet was later employed by the Postal Corporation of Kenya as a telephone operator and posted to Kajiado in 1967. She left that job in 1971, and for many years worked in the tourism industry for Flamingo Tours and Travel. She later founded her own company--Joyride Tours and Travel, which she operated until semi-retirement in her late 70s. Even at such an advanced age, Janet could not stop giving herself to good causes. At the time of her passing, she was the financial director of The Mutunga Foundation.
Janet was deeply involved in her church and county leadership, and was an ever-present pillar of strength in her extended family.
In her old age, Janet went back to school and graduated with a degree in Social Work and Counselling from Bugema University, Uganda, in 2012. She then enrolled in graduate school, earning a master’s degree in Development Studies at St. Paul’s University in Limuru, Kiambu County, Kenya in 2017.
Janet showed us, through example, how to love one another and how to live a life devoted to love of family and service to humanity. The memories of her kindness will forever remain entrenched in the hearts of those whom she touched.
Even as the family is weighed down by the pain of her passing, we are comforted in the knowledge that she is with the Lord whom she loved exceedingly.
Janet was laid to rest at her home at Ndolo Village, Makueni County, Kenya, on Wednesday, March 7, 2021.