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Youngstown man honors brother, among Christians killed by terrorists
By LINDA M. LINONIS
linonis@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
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Gideon Kipkurui Kesio, July 10, 1995-April 2, 2015
AP
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Kenyans look at a board showing some of the faces and names of the victims of the Garissa attack, during a vigil at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, April 7, 2015. Students and other Kenyans gathered at dusk to honor and remember the victims, lighting candles, holding flowers, reading their names aloud, and erecting a white wooden cross for each of those who were killed in the Garissa University College attack. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
AP
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Unidentified relatives grieve as they walk towards a center set up for relatives and survivors in Garissa, Kenya, Friday, April 3, 2015. Al-Shabab gunmen rampaged through a university in northeastern Kenya at dawn Thursday, killing scores of people in the group's deadliest attack in the East African country. Four militants were slain by security forces to end the siege just after dusk. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Headlines of terror attacks dominate the news for a short time until another catastrophe happens. But these personal tragedies are never forgotten by the victims’ families.
Eliud Kesio, an international long-distance runner who lives in the city and Germany, said he decided to publish a tribute in The Vindicator on April 15 in remembrance of his brother, Gideon Kipkurui Kesio. The 19-year-old student was among 147 Christians shot to death on April 2 by the Islamic group Al Shabaab. Gideon, an engineering student at Garissa University College in Eastern Kenya, was murdered in his dorm room.
Recently Kesio and a friend, Patricia Canton, head clerk in the information department of Youngstown and Mahoning County Public Library, talked about the tragedy. Canton said she came to know Kesio as a patron of the library and through Fifth Avenue Community Church, where both attend.
A memorial service for Gideon was April 12 at the 1361 Fifth Ave. church. Kesio said he was grateful for a collection to help his family with funeral expenses.
Kesio said Gideon is “a Christian martyr, because he was killed because he was a Christian.”
“As a Christian, I forgive them [Al Shabaab]. I believe God wants us to forgive,” he said. “I don’t want revenge ... my heart is not like that.” He said there is no point in revenge as it will not bring his brother back.
He continued that he believes his brother would feel the same way. “My brother had faith ... and loved his faith and loved God,” Kesio said.
What Kesio does regret is that his youngest brother will never “have a chance to live.”
Kesio said his parents, Ruth Lelei and Wilson Kesio Lelei, trust their faith. “My mother said she is OK ... she lets God handle it.”
Kesio said he came to the United States about 12 years ago and attended Malone College in Canton. He remained in the Mahoning Valley because he said he liked Youngstown. Gideon had planned to come to the U.S. in 2016 and work on a master’s degree in engineering at Youngstown State University.
“He was the young one,” Kesio said of the youngest sibling in the family of 11 children. Gideon was 7 when Kesio left Kenya, Africa, to compete in long-distance events. The family farms and tends cows, goats and sheep.
Kesio said he wanted his brother to be remembered “for his love of study.”
“He was an inspiration,” Kesio said, adding, “he was the smartest of us.”
Kesio said his family called to tell him what happened. “I talk to my mother about twice a week or more,” he said, noting he also Skypes and emails with family members. Kesio did not make the 15,000-mile trip to Africa for Gideon’s funeral. He was buried April 14 at the African Inland Church, which is Christian, in East Africa.
Kesio said his brother Amos, and a brother-in-law went to the morgue to identify Gideon. “At first, Gideon’s body couldn’t be found. They looked at 100 bodies and finally found him,” Kesio said. “Gideon was shot three times with an AK-47 ... in his head, chest and leg.”
Canton said she scoured multiple news reports to compare information on what happened. The Al Shabaab group came to the university at about 5:30 a.m. April 2, which was Holy/Maundy Thursday on the Christian calendar. The Islamic group separated the Christians and non-Christians.
Kesio said Garissa University accepts only the smartest students. “I think by killing these students, the terrorists also wanted to hurt the country,” he said. Kesio said his brother would have made a contribution.
Canton said when she learned Kesio’s brother had been killed in such a way, there was “shock and disbelief.”
Kesio said the security at the university was no match for the armed attack.