[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23659]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO BEN LEWIS ATUAHENE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. THOMAS S.P. PERRIELLO

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 6, 2009

  Mr. PERRIELLO. Madam Speaker, Ben Lewis Atuahene--also known as Kofi 
Kwarteng--was born to Dora Yaa Akyea Kyerematen and Samuel Kwadwo 
Atuahene on January 23, 1942 in Kumasi, Ghana. He attended Ghana 
National Secondary School in Cape Coast and briefly worked at the 
President's Castle in Ghana before moving to London, England in 1965 to 
study law. In 1969, he was admitted to the Honorable Society of the 
Inner Temple, and was called to the Bar in 1971. During that same time 
he met and married the love of his life, Beatrice Achampong, in London. 
They later moved to New York in 1972, where they started their family. 
Opportunities arose for the couple in California and they moved with 
their two daughters, Nannette and Bernadette, to Los Angeles in 1976, 
where he began work as legal counsel for C & R Clothiers in Culver 
City. In 1984, he passed the California Bar and immediately began the 
independent law practice he ran until his untimely death. Ben was an 
invaluable asset to the Ghanaian community and touched the lives of 
thousands of people through his legal practice, philanthropy, and 
mentorship. Ben's untiring generosity, strength of character, 
determination to succeed, and desire to make those around him realize 
their full potential survive in his daughters, Nannette and Bernadette, 
and his grandchildren, Abdeena, Alieu, Alim, and Afia Nyarko. He is 
also survived by brothers, Yaw Kankam, Oppong, Frimpong, Dixon, Kwame, 
Ernest, and sister, Eva Atuahene, as well as extended family both here 
and abroad. Ben will be deeply missed by his family and his community, 
where he served as a guide, a counselor, and a friend.

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