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Special
Tribute to Theo Wilfrid Abediaye Jerry W. Bird, Editor
The Africa Travel
Association and its members pay tribute to our
dearly beloved friend and colleague, Theo Wilfrid
Abediaye of Benin. Mr. Abediaye served as ATA's
Chapter President for Benin and was an important
part of our association's presence in West Africa.
Please send your personal messages to
africatravelasso@aol.com
We deeply mourn
the untimely passing of our dear friend,
Theo, and wish to share with everyone our fondest
memories of him. Theo was affectionately called the
"Godfather" by Helen because of her respect for his
wisdom, his commanding presence and his ability to
always get things done for his clients despite the
challenges! He was also very supportive of her
efforts to start her own travel and tourism company
and continued to check on her progress. Helen first met Theo on
her first trip to sub-Saharan Africa in Cote
D'Ivoire and they have remained good friends
ever since. Whenever he visited Washington,
D.C., he always brought lovely gifts from
Benin. During the First Annual Pilgrimage
to Benin (1998) he arranged to have Helen made
"Queen of Ouidah" and her Beninoise name became
"Queen Adinasse". David first met Theo
during his first visit to the Motherland when he
attended the Africa Travel Association's (ATA) 22nd
Annual International Congress that was held in
Cotonou, Benin. They both became very good
friends, Theo was the ATA Chapter
President of Benin and was very supportive
of helping David with linking the
American and African ATA Chapter Presidents over
the years. He always offered him sound
advice about how to improve the relationships
between the African Chapters and the ATA
organization. Theo was also instrumental
in assisting Helen and David with their efforts to
promote the First Annual Pilgrimage to Benin. He
was well known in the travel and tourism
industry of Africa and greatly admired by both his
colleagues and clients alike. Theo also taught David a
great deal about how to organize Familiarization
(FAM) Tours to several West African countries.
Whenever Theo visited Washington, D.C., with a
business delegation from Benin, he would be sure to
introduce us to everyone in the group
and take us all out to lunch or dinner. Theo
was always interested in making new friends
wherever he traveled and people always spoke fondly
of him whenever you mentioned Benin. We were both very
fortunate to have spent time with Theo during the
most recent ATA Congress in Lusaka, Zambia. He was
very happy to meet David's mother (Mrs. Elaine S.
Saunders) and expressed his pleasure that she was
able to travel to Africa. He also invited her to
come to Benin in 2004 and meet his
family. In closing, Theo was the
consummate tourism professional, a wonderful friend
to many and an exemplary "ambassador" for the
unique culture of his beloved Benin. He will surely
be missed but never forgotten. May GOD bless his
soul. A special tribute to Theo
Adebiaye was held at the Benin Embassy
in Washington, DC Helen Broadus |
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The
very first tour operator I met in Africa was Theo
Abediaye, and our friendship grew over many years,
until his untimely death. During the ATA Congress,
we had an enjoyable day with Theo, which included
an enchanted forest, many historic sites and the
unique Beninoise village of Ganvie, built
completely on stilts in the middle of the delta.
The only way to access it is by canoe. A few months
before he passed away, Theo gave Muguette and I a
treasured photo album of early scenes taken at ATA
functions and during the many tours he led so
professionally. ATA will be proud to feature this
timeless material in coming editions of Africa
Travel Magazine, starting with the 30th Jubilee
Souvenir Yearbook. An active ATA member and former
chapter president, Theo Abediaye is a shining
example to all African tour operators, the rare
type of individual one never forgets.