Samuel K. Owusu-Acheaw

A Life Well Lived in Service

Samuel Kwabena Owusu-Acheaw, 71, was born in Sefwi-Asafo, Gold Coast, West Africa (Ghana) to Mr. Thompson Owusu-Acheaw and Mary Pokuaa. Because his father was an agricultural research officer for the Ghana State Farming and Cocoa Marketing Board, Samuel’s childhood and education passed through many towns in Ghana including Koforidua, Bunso, Juaso, Wenchi, Kitampo, and Ashanti Effiduase.

Samuel attended Mpraeso Secondary School on a full government scholarship. After secondary school, he matriculated to Akropong Presbyterian College of Education. After graduating, he taught middle school at Gomoa Afransi, a town five minutes from Agona Swedru.

In 1978, Sam left Ghana and moved to Liberia to serve as a teacher with Catholic Charities. He was sent to teach high school in a small town called Pleebo.  He also went on to teach at a boarding school in Cape Palamas. Civil unrest in Liberia, gave Sam the ambition to seek opportunities outside of West Africa. He saved a majority of the money from his paychecks and stored his money in his pillow, with anticipation that he would save enough money to come to the United States, the dream and the hope of many young Ghanaians who had gone to work in Liberia. In 1982, Sam got a visiting visa to come to the United States. Upon arrival in the U.S., he gained admittance into university and soon after, gained his residency, then his U.S. Citizenship. While attending university, he worked as a dishwasher and later in housekeeping as a supervisor.

In 1989, Mr. Owusu got his first U.S. teaching job at Adelphi Elementary School in Prince Georges County. While teaching, Sam decided to go back to school and earn certification for Education in Urban Settings, at George Washington University. In 1992, he left Prince Georges County Schools and went to teach at Lucy D. Slowe Elementary School in Washington, DC. In 1997, Mr. Owusu earned a Master's Degree in Administration and Supervision from the University of the District of Columbia. After nearly 15 years of teaching at the historic Lucy D. Slowe Elementary, in Ward 5’s Brookland neighborhood, Mr. Owusu left Slowe to teach at Burrville Elementary in Ward 7. During his time at Burrville, he and his students served as hosts to President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for a MLK Day of Service event held in his classroom. After retiring from DC Public Schools in 2014, Mr. Owusu returned to Prince George’s County Schools to teach at Oaklands Elementary and then finally retired from teaching at Greenbelt Middle School as a Math Teacher, in 2018.

Service and civic duty were important to Sam.  Often organizing food, clothing, and charity drives for his students and the homeless. Sam was a proud member of the Knights of Columbus and obtained the level of Fourth Degree Knight. He was a man of faith who served as an usher at his beloved St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Church. Affectionately called Uncle Sam by those closest to him, he took joy in assisting with the parish’s annual Easter Egg Hunt, just as much as he enjoyed helping to provide poll coverage for candidates for elected office.

Sam loved music, gardening, the outdoors, and more importantly people. He was always known to help a neighbor in need and put a smile on faces.

Sam is survived by his wife Agnes Wendy, his daughter Pokuaa, and numerous family, friends and loved ones who will miss him dearly.

The family will receive friends at the Donaldson Funeral Home, P.A. , 313 Talbott Avenue, Laurel on Monday, August 12 from 5 to 8 PM and at St. Nicholas Church, Laurel on Tuesday from 10 to 11 AM when the Funeral Mass will begin. Interment Gate of Heaven Cemetery.