Members of the Seventh-Day Church carry the body of the late Elizabeth Nyathi to its final resting place after a church service at Beacon of Hope SDA Church in Bulawayo yesterday.
Whinsley Masara, Chronicle Reporter
THE wife of prominent historian Pathisa Nyathi has been laid to rest following her death from lung cancer on Sunday morning.
Elizabeth Nyathi, 59, died at the United Bulawayo Hospitals after she was diagnosed with the disease in July last year.
A former headmistress at several schools in the Matabeleland region who quit her job last year due to ill health, Elizabeth was laid to rest at Lady Stanley Cemetery in the city.
Family spokesperson, Paul Nyathi, described her as an educationist who joined the education sector in 1981.
“The death of a loved one always comes as shock and we’re most saddened to lose this outstanding woman today. This is not just a loss to the family but the entire education system in this country as well,” he said.
He said Elizabeth was a great pillar of strength to the historian.
Pathisa said his family feels honoured by the Bulawayo City Council’s decision that his wife be laid to rest at Lady Stanley – which is reserved for residents who have served the city with distinction.
“It was unfortunate that the cancer was only diagnosed when it was at an advanced stage. Since last year, it’s only a few moments that my wife was with me at home. She spent the greater part of her time in hospitals,” he said.
“Considering my position in society, and the exhibition of the good work that she has done for the communities, we feel honoured that the Bulawayo City Council saw it fit to put her to rest at the selective cemetery that I too shall definitely be put, so that we forever lie side by side.”
Hundreds of people attended Elizabeth’s burial, among them Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development Deputy Minister Abigail Damasane, officials from Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture as well as the city council.
Meanwhile, Zanu-PF Bulawayo Central District chairperson and city businessman Joe Reeds Chiyangwa was also buried yesterday at his rural home in Chivi.
Chiyangwa died on Saturday at Gweru General Hospital where he had been taken for a medical check-up.