By Canadian Press

A look at the Canadian victims of the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash

Mar 11, 2019 | 11:17 AM

Details are emerging about the 18 Canadian victims of an Ethiopian Airlines plane crash in Addis Ababa that left 157 people dead. Here is what we know so far:

Pius Adesanmi:

Adesanmi was a Nigerian-born professor in the Department of English Language and Literature and the Institute of African Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa.

He was a “towering figure in African and post-colonial scholarship,” said the school’s president, Benoit-Antoine Bacon.

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Adesanmi was the winner of the inaugural Penguin Prize for African non-fiction writing in 2010.

Mitchell Dick, a Carleton student in communications, said Adesanmi was “extremely nice and approachable,” and stood out for his passion for African literature.

Peter deMarsh

Described by a longtime family friend in New Brunswick as a dedicated community activist, deMarsh also travelled the world as chairman of the International Family Forestry Alliance.

The international group, based in Luxembourg, represents more than 25 million forest owners worldwide.

Genevieve MacRae recalled how deMarsh and his wife Jean Burgess helped establish the Taymouth Community Association in central New Brunswick more than a decade ago.

“Peter and his wife Jean made a pretty powerful team,” said MacRae, a friend of deMarsh’s since her childhood. “They were always looking for how to improve the lives of the people around them.”

MacRae said deMarsh was a pillar of the Taymouth community.

“He was warm, funny, passionate — you always felt listened-to with Peter,” MacRae said. “He was an intense person, except that doesn’t signify the warmth that was behind it all … It’s a monumental loss for our community.” 

Felix Montecuccoli, a board member with the International Family Forestry Alliance, said in an email that police shared the news of deMarsh’s death with his family late Sunday.

DeMarsh was en route to Nairobi, where he and Montecuccoli had planned to attend a workshop on financing for small farms.

Amina Ibrahim Odowaa and her daughter Sofia Faisal Abdulkadir:

The 33-year-old Edmonton woman and her five-year-old daughter were travelling to Kenya to visit relatives.

Her brother, Mohamed Hassan Ali of Toronto, said he had planned to travel with them but had to cancel last week.

“(She was) a very nice person, very outgoing, very friendly — had a lot of friends,” he said.

A family friend said Odowaa had lived in Edmonton since 2006.

Derick Lwugi:

An accountant with the City of Calgary, Lwugi was on his way to Kenya to visit both his and his wife’s parents.

“His mom was not feeling well,” Lwugi’s wife, Gladys Kivia, said in a brief interview from Calgary.

The couple have three children, aged 17, 19 and 20, all of whom live at home.

The family has lived in Calgary for 12 years.

Jessica Hyba

Hyba’s Facebook page says she was born in Ottawa and pursued a career in international aid work.

She worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as an public relations officer, based in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Prior to that, the UNHCR said Hyba worked for Care Canada, who did not immediately respond to request for comment. 

Danielle Moore:

A 24-year-old marine biology student from Winnipeg, Moore graduated from Dalhousie University in Halifax in 2017.

She posted on Facebook on Saturday morning that she would be travelling to Nairobi, Kenya, for the United Nations Environment Assembly.

“Over the next week, I’ll have the opportunity to discuss global environmental issues, share stories, and connect with other youth and leaders from all over the world,” she wrote.

“I feel beyond privileged to be receiving this opportunity.”

Prof. Kim Davies, her honours thesis adviser at Dalhousie, said Moore was an exceptional student.

“She excelled at her studies, she was a kind and friendly person, and she was deeply devoted to environmental and human rights causes,” Davies said in an email.

Davies said after graduating from Dalhousie, Moore returned to Manitoba where she worked for several non-governmental organizations, including the Canada Learning Code, a group dedicated to improving the accessibility of educational and technological resources for Canadians.

The professor confirmed Moore’s work was recognized by the United Nations, which is why she was invited to be a delegate to the environmental assembly.

The Canadian Press