- KEMI AKINYEMI
In this part of the world, attaining a milestone age usually prompts a celebrant to roll out the drums, hire a band of entertainers, and invite the high and mighty to a gathering for merrymaking.
On Monday, April 17, when Gisa Quent Mordi, The silent but very dependable, tenacious and courageous matriarch of the VPN Mordi family and a celebrated matron of the Nigerian society, clocked 80, she was so excited about joining the club of octogenarians.
To mark the event, her children and their respective spouses hosted a modest thanksgiving reception in her honour. The event was held in Lagos.
The beautiful and timelessly graceful matriarch, known for her exemplary and exceptional humility, revelled in the love and adulation she got from family members, friends and well-wishers who gathered to celebrate with her.
The guests were treated to a whole gamut of fun and the entire venue wore a convivial mood while the event lasted. The celebrant was at her element, dancing and mingling with her family and friends, with so much gusto. She basked in the blizzard of good wishes and felicitations that buffeted her.
Although she is German by birth, Gisa Mordi features prominently on the list of Nigeria’s ageless society matriarchs. She takes exceptional care of herself. While she is blessed with a fair look and flawless skin, it is the shifts in her wellness and beauty routine that she began making in her 20’s that she credits for her epic youth preservation.
Gisa is the widow of Professor Victor Nonyelum Mordi, a world-renowned pathologist who died at the age of 80 after a brief illness on April 22, 2016. Mordi, whose groundbreaking works in Pathology and Histology remain unmatched, once headed the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) hospital till he left in 2012.
During his lifetime, the Delta-state born was known to many as FK (Fountain of Knowledge) due to his vast knowledge in many subjects. Everyone who encountered him was inspired by his deep well of knowledge. In his field of study, his students revered him for his outstanding knowledge. No wonder his services were sought by the Ministry of Justice in resolving high-profile cases like the Dana Air Crash in 2012.
On March 7, 1966, Mordi and Gisa (née Quent) got married in Germany. Their union is blessed with six children – Jane Mordi, Grace Onosode, Ndidi Osakwe, Ifechukwu Patrick-Onyeka, Ifeanyi Adefarasin and Nkiru Adekoya; and 18 grandchildren.
Gisa Mordi, who is fondly called Mutti (mother in German), is the ideal role model. Unperturbed that she had no male offspring, she treats her six daughters like she would any male child. She instilled in them integrity, independence, humility, compassion, excellence and education values.
Their fondest memories of her were in their Eni Njoku residence in the University of Lagos (UNILAG). Mordi had just returned from Germany with his family, following an offer by the Federal Government in 1972 to lecture at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). This was shortly after the civil war. In fact, the family arrived on October 1, Independence Day.
It was here that Mordi and Gisa taught their children their gardening skills. They fondly remembered how the garden in their backyard boasted of different fruits and vegetables. The garden was also home to all kinds of animals, from turtles to chickens, the Mordi girls grew to love and care for animals.
