- Date Of Birth: September 10, 1942
- Date Of Death: February 15, 2012
- State: Maryland
Mrs. Ehite Megerssa was born on September 10, 1942 to Mr. Gussu Megerssa and Mrs. Bedesso Fago in the town of Ambo, Ethiopia. She graduated from Hagere Hiwot Kedamawy Halie Selassie Elementary School in Ambo and then completed her high school education from Harar Teachers’ Training Center with high honors. While enrolled in Addis Ababa University , she transferred to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio on a full scholarship and gradusted in May 1961 with Bachelors of Arts in Sociology.
Both home sick and driven by a deep desire to serve her countrymen, Ehite returned to Ethiopia. There she became a social worker and a social welfare research coordinator from 1961-1966 at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs developing nursery schools for children and vocational training programs for women. From 1967-1970, Ehite served as Executive Director of YMCA in Addis Ababa, then from 1970-1974 she owned and managed two beauty salons, and worked from 1976-1990 as head of Social Service Department at the All African Leprosy and Rehabilitation Training Center (ALERT) Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ehite’s love of learning and continued desire to advance her academic studies landed her in 1990 at Mid Westerm State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. There she completed her M.Ed., in Human Resource Development in 1993 and also enrolled in the Bachelor of Nursing Program from 1993-1997. She also worked as a Residential Counselor from 2002-2006 at the Rock Creek Foundation (R.C.F.) in Kensington, Maryland. Ehite joined the staff at Anchor Mental Health Association, Inc. of Catholic Charities in 2000 in Washington, DC, where she served as a case worker until her untimely death at the age of 69 on February 15, 2012.
Ehite is survived by her husband, Col. Tessema Abaderash Zena; her two sons, Zenaw T. Abaderash of London, England and Dagmawy Tessema (Tata) of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Wubet Tessema (Tina) of Silver Spring, MD. Ehite’s granddaughter, Ella Dagmawy was born on February 1, 2012. Ehite is also survived by her brothers, Wolde Yohannes Megerssa, Legesse Megerssa, Terefe Megerssa, Gegre Michael Megerssa of Ethiopia, Tilahun Megerssa of Atlanta, Georgia, yehwalashet Megerssa of Milano, Italy and numerous nieces and nephews in Europe, the United States and Ethiopia.
