In Loving Memory
Sheila Makena
21 September 1983 — 1 June 2026
From the hills of Chogoria to the world stage — a life of learning, service, and grace.
Sheila Makena’s Life Story
A Celebration of Sheila Makena’s Life
We gather today not in sorrow alone, but in thanksgiving — family, friends, colleagues and community, gathered as one to celebrate the life of Sheila Makena. Hers was a life that began in the green highlands of Chogoria, Meru and reached the global stage: a life of learning, of service, and of a generosity that asked nothing in return. To have known Sheila was to have been touched by her brilliance, her warmth, and a grace that never left her.
Where Sheila Makena Came From
Sheila was born on 21 September 1983 at Chogoria Hospital, in Meru South, the daughter of Dorothy Kagoji Kiambati. Her earliest years were spent in the highlands of Meru, among the kin she would carry in her heart for the rest of her life.
When she was only six years old, in 1990, Sheila lost her mother. But into that grief came the love that would shape the rest of her life. Her uncle, Mbabu Kiambati, took her into his home and raised her as his own, a father to her in every sense to the end of her days. The Kiambati family became her family, and their love was the ground on which she built everything that followed.
Sheila Makena’s School Years
Sheila began her education at Thigaa Primary School, where she spent eight formative years before joining Chogoria Girls’ High School in 1997. She flourished there, and by the time she sat her final examinations in 2000, her teachers knew exactly who she was — in the words of her head teacher, “a disciplined, hardworking and co-operative girl of high intelligent ability.”
Hers were not the gifts of the classroom alone. She wrote with the Writers’ Club, and she carried her school proudly onto the stage, reaching Provincial level in drama and the National stage in music. Even then, the shape of the woman was visible — able, devoted, and already at home in the wider world.
Sheila’s Life of Learning and Service
What followed was a love of learning that few could match. Sheila first trained as a dental technologist, earning her diploma from the Kenya Medical Training College in 2005, and the following year she took up the German language at the Goethe-Institut. But her curiosity reached further still — toward the world, its peoples, and the questions that bind them.
In 2009, as a young delegate, she took part in an African Union crisis simulation — an experience that turned her firmly toward diplomacy and international affairs. She went on to earn a degree in International Relations from the United States International University in 2010, and then crossed continents to read for a Master of Laws in Environmental Law at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom (UK), which she completed in 2012. Her pursuit of knowledge did not end there: in 2015 she was admitted to doctoral study in environmental policy at the University of Nairobi, taking her place among those who would help shape how her country cares for its land, its water, and its future.
Between her studies, Sheila gave her life to the service of her nation on the world stage. At the Permanent Mission of Kenya to the United Nations, she worked at the heart of environmental diplomacy — helping to prepare Kenya’s positions for international negotiation, supporting the country’s engagement with the United Nations Environment Programme and UN-Habitat, working alongside the Africa Group, and contributing to the early shaping of what the world now knows as the Sustainable Development Goals.
Those who led her there did not forget her. Ambassador Martin Kimani, Kenya’s Permanent Representative, remembered her intelligence, her composure under pressure, and above all her integrity — the very qualities that those who loved her at home knew so well.
Sheila Makena’s Heart
For all her learning and her honours, those who knew Sheila speak first of her heart. She was, by every account, immensely generous — the one who opened her door, who took people in, who carried others through their hardest seasons. She sheltered family through illness and low times. Her home was open, her table was shared, and her love, as those closest to her have said, was unconditional — given freely, even at their worst times.
She was, too, the person others turned to when they had no one else. More than one of those who loved her has said it plainly: she was there when no one else was. Hers was a big heart, with room for everyone.
Sheila Makena’s Courage Through Challenges
Sheila knew physical struggle from early in her life. As a young woman, not long after her school years, she came through major heart surgery — and went on to live fully, actively, and well for many years, giving little outward sign of all she had overcome. Only in her later years did her health gradually decline. She bore that long struggle with the same quiet courage that had marked her from the start, and on 1 June 2026, after so brave a road, she passed from this life.
What Sheila Makena Leaves Behind
Sheila leaves a legacy far larger than her years. She leaves the causes she gave herself to — the care of our environment, the pursuit of justice in law and policy, and the patient work of diplomacy that serves nations quietly and well. She leaves the example of a girl from Chogoria who reached the world and never once forgot where she came from. She leaves the many she sheltered, encouraged, and loved — some of whom are here today because of the place she made for them. And most of all she leaves the family who raised and cherished her — the Kiambati family — and a love that, having been given so freely, will not soon be forgotten. In each of us who carries a little of her courage and her kindness forward, Sheila Makena remains present.
And so, on behalf of all who loved her, we say goodbye — and thank you, for the time we were given. Rest well, Sheila. We carry you with us, always.
Memories in Pictures
Moments and Years Together
Sheila is lovingly remembered by the family who raised and cherished her — the entire Kiambati family, the Kanyua Koomu Family, her close friends, and a wide circle of relatives, friends and colleagues whose lives she touched.
Tributes
In Her Memory · By Those Who Knew Her
From the Kiambati Family
Sheila was a beacon of hope. She represented the selfless love we all came to know and integrate into our lives. She will live on in our heavy hearts as a daily reminder of what it means to live full of love and laughter. We loved you, Sheila, but God had other plans. Rest with the angels now.
From Relatives
Sheila had immense, unconditional love even at our worst times.
From Friends
She was generous, deeply loving, and the person others turned to when they had no one else.
From the Community
Am I in a dreamland? Doshem is no more?
Personal Tributes
A Few Words from Those Who Loved Her
The tributes below are from family and friends.
Mutugi Mbabu
I celebrate the life you lived fully…
Mwenda Mbabu
Words cannot describe how I feel.
Purity Kagwiria
Sheila was there for many of us, many times. That is why we long to give her the send-off she so deserves.
Koome Guantai
All of us benefitted from Sheila’s generosity in one way or another. She sheltered each of us in turn, and showed us immense, unconditional love even at our worst times. She was, to all of us, both sister and friend.
Emily Kendi
Sheila was a dear friend. She gave so much of herself to those around her. I will hold on to the wonderful person she was and the impact she had on all our lives.
Kirimi Guantai
Sheila is someone we so loved. Believe me — she was, and is, loved. I will do anything and everything possible to celebrate her.
Violet Karimi
Sheila had a big heart to accommodate everyone.
Acknowledgements
With Gratitude
The Kiambati family wishes to express its heartfelt gratitude to all who have stood with them during this time — from friends, relatives, colleagues, and all who offered their presence and support. To the organisers and funeral committee, your kindness and compassion will not be forgotten.
Until we meet again.
Rest in peace, Sheila Makena.