On August 28th, 2019, father and husband Enekan Akpan passed after a long fight with type 2 diabetes. His wife, son, daughters and grandchildren have been left to mourn the loss of a husband, father, and grandfather. 

Enekan was born in Nigeria, in the town of Ikot Akpan Anwa, to Mary and Thompson Akpan Umoh on October 10, 1950. The son of a school teacher, Enekan loved reading and playing soccer as a child.  

Enekan immigrated to the United States in 1972, after being awarded a Nigerian government scholarship to attend the University of Kansas. His wife, Nko, immigrated to the U.S. a few years later and two children soon followed. The Akpan family moved to the South, so Enekan could attend graduate school at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Enekan dreamed of using his education to improve infrastructure conditions in his hometown in Nigeria.

But periods of political instability in Nigeria, including a coup in 1983, would end his academic funding and scupper his plans. The terms of his scholarship made obtaining a U.S. work visa and green card extremely difficult. He spent the next three decades working a series of construction and other service jobs to support his family, which added a third child in the late 1990s. 

Enekan’s diabetic condition had seemed to be stabilizing, until it turned for the worst in recent months. The Akpan family is raising funds to help with expenses related to outstanding medical bills and the costs of a sudden funeral. 

Please donate as much as you are able. Any little bit will help. Thank you for your support during this difficult time.