Veteran Kenyan Radio Presenter Gladys Erude Dies After Returning from the US for Treatment

Veteran Kenyan radio presenter and announcer Gladys Erude has passed away.

Erude, 70, died at her Nairobi home on Wednesday after a long battle with cancer and a heart condition, according to her family.

Her brother Laban Kirigano said the deceased had just returned to the country from the United States where she was receiving treatment at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. “She was in the US where four of her children live and work,” said Kirigano.

She took her last breath in the presence of her three sons Victor, Silvester, and Maxwell, who had accompanied her back to Kenya.

“She had three items to check off her bucket list before she died, visit her country home her mother’s grave, and her last remaining sister. These three things were all accomplished upon her return to Kenya and her passing away,” Victor said.

Erude worked at Voice of Kenya (VOK), now Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), for 25 years before retiring in 2001.

Before joining the State broadcaster, she was a teacher at Tigoi Girls High School in Vihiga County but later switched her career to media. She joined the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication for media training in 1975.

Since her retirement, Erude split her time between her farm home in Nandi and visits to her four sons and grandchildren in the US. Erude, who lost her husband when she was 24 years, leaves behind six sons.