Obituary: Anthony Fatayi-Williams
No one could be left in any doubt about the passion with which Anthony Fatayi-Williams was loved by his family after hearing the deeply emotional speech delivered by his mother in the wake of the London attacks.
Then still classed as "missing", Mr Fatayi-Williams was thought to have been on the No 30 bus when it was blown open by a suicide bomber at 0947BST.
His mother Marie made her way to the scene of the attack, and, in front of assembled reporters and cameramen, spoke with raw emotion.
'Love of my life'
"My son Anthony is my first son, my only son, the head of my family. He's the love of my life. I am proud of him, I am still very proud of him. What did he do to deserve this?"
Born in London of Nigerian parentage, Anthony's Fatayi-Williams' origins were far from humble - his mother is a senior oil executive, his father, one of Nigeria's leading medical practitioners.
Yet his career ambitions were matched by a strong work ethic - at the time of his death he was studying for an MBA through a distance learning course with Durham University.
His boss, Richard Jenkins, had warm praise for the 26-year-old who started work at engineering group Amec as a graduate trainee.
"Anthony was superb," he told the Guardian. "He came from a very successful family and he wanted his parents to be proud of him."
Former colleague Patrick Phillips said he was an asset to his employer "and one of the people that makes it a pleasure to go to work".
"I never heard him say a disrespectful word about or to anyone. As an associate at work I will feel great loss at the prospect of not having the opportunity to work with him sometime in the future," he wrote.
"Anthony was a bright light and he will be missed."
Doting brother
Born in January 1979, to a Catholic mother and Muslim father, Anthony divided his childhood between Britain, France and Nigeria, attending school in Sevenoaks, Kent, and Paris. He went on to study for a degree in politics and economics at Bradford University.
He joined Amec's oil and gas business in 2002 and last year became a regional executive developing new business in Africa.
He is said to have doted on his two younger sisters - one of whom has Down's Syndrome. His joyful demeanour made a strong impression on his former girlfriend, estate agent Clare Foreshaw, from Aisthorpe, Near Lincoln.
"He is so outgoing and positive about life," she told the Lincolnshire Echo.
But those qualities also meant "he didn't handle sadness very well", as his cousin Tom Ikimi Jnr, 26, told the congregation at his funeral in Westminster Cathedral.
"Tears and sadness don't do anything for Anthony at this point. Only joy and happiness is the way he should be remembered."
Then still classed as "missing", Mr Fatayi-Williams was thought to have been on the No 30 bus when it was blown open by a suicide bomber at 0947BST.
His mother Marie made her way to the scene of the attack, and, in front of assembled reporters and cameramen, spoke with raw emotion.
'Love of my life'
"My son Anthony is my first son, my only son, the head of my family. He's the love of my life. I am proud of him, I am still very proud of him. What did he do to deserve this?"
Born in London of Nigerian parentage, Anthony's Fatayi-Williams' origins were far from humble - his mother is a senior oil executive, his father, one of Nigeria's leading medical practitioners.
Yet his career ambitions were matched by a strong work ethic - at the time of his death he was studying for an MBA through a distance learning course with Durham University.
His boss, Richard Jenkins, had warm praise for the 26-year-old who started work at engineering group Amec as a graduate trainee.
"Anthony was superb," he told the Guardian. "He came from a very successful family and he wanted his parents to be proud of him."
Former colleague Patrick Phillips said he was an asset to his employer "and one of the people that makes it a pleasure to go to work".
"I never heard him say a disrespectful word about or to anyone. As an associate at work I will feel great loss at the prospect of not having the opportunity to work with him sometime in the future," he wrote.
"Anthony was a bright light and he will be missed."
Doting brother
Born in January 1979, to a Catholic mother and Muslim father, Anthony divided his childhood between Britain, France and Nigeria, attending school in Sevenoaks, Kent, and Paris. He went on to study for a degree in politics and economics at Bradford University.
He joined Amec's oil and gas business in 2002 and last year became a regional executive developing new business in Africa.
He is said to have doted on his two younger sisters - one of whom has Down's Syndrome. His joyful demeanour made a strong impression on his former girlfriend, estate agent Clare Foreshaw, from Aisthorpe, Near Lincoln.
"He is so outgoing and positive about life," she told the Lincolnshire Echo.
But those qualities also meant "he didn't handle sadness very well", as his cousin Tom Ikimi Jnr, 26, told the congregation at his funeral in Westminster Cathedral.
"Tears and sadness don't do anything for Anthony at this point. Only joy and happiness is the way he should be remembered."
posted by TIUranta at 12:28 PM
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