It is with heavy heart and profound sadness that
we report the passing of Dr. Temba Shonhiwa on 24 October 2009
                                                     
                     Temba Shonhiwa (1958-2009): Vita and in Memoriam
                                                
                                             by Henry W. Gould

    Temba Shonhiwa, the third son of Mawire N. and Jessica Shonhiwa was born at Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe, 25 May 1958. He attended high school at Moleli Secondary School in Zimbabwe and Oxford College for Further Education, United Kingdom in 1980. In 1981, he entered the University of Zimbabwe, graduating with a B.Sc. with Honors in Mathematics in 1983. In 1984 he entered Bristol University, in the United Kingdom, graduating with a M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics. In January 1986, he joined as a lecturer in the Mathematics Department at the University of Zimbabwe. He was married to his wife Fortune on 18 June 1990. In January 1991, he joined West Virginia University, Morgantown, W.Va., USA, as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. He graduated at WVU with a Ph.D. in Pure Mathematics in May 1996, having written a dissertation in Number Theory under the supervision of Professor Henry W. Gould. This work involved two aspects: (i) Solution of a Problem of Gould posed in 1964; (ii) New results about number theoretic functions studied by E. Cesaro.

    Academic awards included: the Beit Scholarship at Moleli Secondary School, the British Council Scholarship at Oxford College for Further Education, the Staff Development and State Lottery Fellowships at the University of Zimbabwe, and a College of Arts and Sciences Fellowship at West Virginia University.

    His teaching experience included Chair of Mathematics at the University of Zimbabwe at Harare, Graduate Teaching Assistant at West Virginia University, Chowan College at Murfreesboro, N.C., USA, Univesity of Swaziland, and Senior Lecturer at Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa.

    He also served as President of the Southern Africa Mathematical Sciences Association (SAMSA) in 2008. SAMSA embraces all colleagues of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and beyond.

    Dr. Shonhiwa was a prominent member of the Mathematicians of the African Diaspora. See the web page maintained by Dr. Scott W. Williams at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Temba was very active in South Africa in organizing opposition to the deterioraring political situation in his home country of Zimbabwe. Temba was a staunch supporter of freedom and good government.

    A few years ago Temba Shonhiwa was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent an extensive operation and treatments, but the cancer returned and he passed away on 24 October 2009 and was buried on 31 October  2009 in Zimbabwe.

    Temba is survived by his wife Fortune, his son Tatenda, his father, 3 brothers, a sister and several nieces and nephews.

    Temba Shonhiwa and his wife Fortune were active participants in the wedding when my wife Jean West Gould and I were married in Mannington, W.Va. on 12 October 1996. They gave us wedding blessings in their native Shona Language. We became very close friends and Temba and Fortune told us so much about the history, scenic attractions and archaeological remains to be found in Zimbabwe, a beautiful country with a temperate climate. They always wanted us to visit Zimbabwe. Fortune was also a graduate of West Virginia University.

    In October 1998. on the occasion of a Symposium for my 70th birthday, Temba was scheduled to give a lecture at WVU on "Generalized bracket function inverse pairs" but he was unable to attend.

    In just the past months before his death, Temba and I discussed ideas for further joint research papers. He had the remarkable ability to see a new step without having it spelled out explicitly, and this was the mark of a highly gifted researcher. He had so much to live for. Beyond his mathematical talent he was, above all, a gentleman, a scholar and a "Mensch".

    Fortune has written me in a brief email received 9 November: 
"Hi Henry and Jean,
Yes you have found me and yes Temba has been taken away from us.  My heart is so sore.   He passed away on the 24th October and was buried on the 31st October in Zimbabwe. I have just come back this past weekend.  It is extremely tough and painful for me right now..... I know your heart is just as sore.  He was so special and he still had so much to give to the world."

    Indeed Temba will be sorely missed. He was a great credit to West Virginia University, to Zimbabwe, and to mathematics in Africa in general and to the whole world.



Temba Shonhiwa - Research and Publications

Dissertation:

        Investigations in Number Theoretic Functions, West Virginia University, Morgantown, W.Va.
        May 1996, 113pp. Directed by Prof. Henry W. Gould,

PUBLICATIONS:

A:  Articles Published  in  Peer Reviewed Journals:

1.    T. Shonhiwa: A Note On Some Characterizations of Arithmetic
         Functions. Rocky Mountain Journal, 39(2009), 645-651,
         MR review to appear: MR2491158

2.    T. Shonhiwa: On Compositeness in Multicompositions. Quaestiones Mathematicae 32(2009),
       no. 1, 35--45
       MR review to appear: MR2521510.   Zentralblatt rev.: 1170.11037

3.     T. Shonhiwa & A. O. Munagi: On Partitions of a Number into Arithmetic Progressions, Journal of
        Integer Sequences, Vol. 11 (2008), Article 08.5.4, 10 pp.   MR 2009j: 11167

4.     T. Shonhiwa & H. W. Gould : A Catalogue of Interesting Dirichlet Series, Missouri Journal of
        Mathematical Sciences, Vol. 20(2008), No. 1, paper no. 2,  17 pp.   Zentralblatt rev.: 1143.11005

5.     T. Shonhiwa: Compositions with pairwise relatively prime summands within a restricted wetting.
        Fibonacci Quarterly,  44(2006), 316-323.   MR 2008c: 11015

6.    T. Shonhiwa: A note on a cass of binomial sums, Bulletin of the Allahabad Mathematical Society,
       Vol. 19(2004), 19-26.   MR 2005l: 11036

7.    M. M. Mawanda & T. Shonhiwa: The Minimal Mathematical Structure for a Synchronic Approach
       to Fuzzy Set Theory, Fuzzy Sets and Systems, Vol. 151/3 May 2005, pp 491-501, 
       MR 2005k: 03122

8.    T. Shonhiwa: Core Function based Characterizations of Number Theoretic Functions, Quaestiones
       Mathematicae Journal, 27(2004), 185 -194. MR 2005f: 11007

9.     T. Shonhiwa: On Relatively Prime Decompositions and Related Results, Quaestiones
        Mathematicae Journal, 24(4) 2001, 565 – 573. MR 2003b: 11004

10.   T. Shonhiwa: On a Class of Prime-detecting Congruences, Discrete Mathematics Journal, 204
        (1999) 357 – 368, MR 2000d: 11015

11.    T. Shonhiwa: On Generalised LCM Based Counting Functions, Utilitas Mathematica, 55 (1999),
         pp. 3–15,  MR 2000b: 11006

12.    T. Shonhiwa: A Generalisation of the Euler and Jordan Totient Functions, The Fibonacci
         Quarterly,Volume 37, Feb. 1999, 67 – 76,  MR 1999k: 11011

13.    T. Shonhiwa: Generalised Bracket Function Inverse Pairs, The Fibonacci Quarterly, Volume 37,
         August (1999), 233 – 239,   MR 2001c: 11008

14.    H. W. Gould & T. Shonhiwa: Functions of GCD’s and LCM’s, The Indian Journal of
         Mathematics, Vol. 39, No. 1, April 1997, 11- 35. MR 19989j: 11001

15.    H. W. Gould & T. Shonhiwa: On a Generalisation of Cesaro’s Result and Other Results, Indian
         Journal of Mathematics, Volume 39, No. 2, August 1997, 183 - 194. MR 1999f: 11010

16.    M. B. Zaturska & T. Shonhiwa: Disappearance of Criticality in Thermal Ignition for a Simple
         Reactive Viscous Flow, Journal of Applied Mathematics and Physics (ZAMP), Vol. 37,
         July 1986.    Not in MR

17.    M. B. Zaturska & T. Shonhiwa: Disappearance of Criticality in Thermal Explosion for Reactive
        Viscous Flows, Combustion & Flame 67: 175-177, 1987.  Not in MR

B:  Articles Accepted for Publication in Peer Reviewed Journals:

18.    T. Shonhiwa: Generalised LCM Product Functions, Utilitas Mathematica, July 2007,

19.    T. Shonhiwa: Arithmetical Function Characterizations and Identities Induced Through Equivalence
         Relations, Notes on Number Theory and Discrete Mathematics, July 2007.


C: Published Books:

1.    Temba Shonhiwa: Introduction to Vector Calculus: University of Zimbabwe Publications, 2005,
       ISBN 1-77920-000-5.
= = = = = = =
Information has been compiled from web sources, his dissertation, family, friends and colleagues. I solicit any new information to make this a greater tribute. Messages have been received from Herbert Fleischner, Arnold Knopfmacher and others.

1 Nov. 2009. Updated and revision compiled by H. W. Gould, 9 Nov. 2009.
Additions and/or corrections are earnestly requested.

 = = = = = = =
Additional Messages Received:

Dr. Rudy Almasy, Interim Dean of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences of West Virginia University, wrote in a card of sympathy mailed 29 October 2009:

"Henry - I heard the sad business concerning the death of Temba, one of your former students. Do know that many are thinking of this loss, but are also thankful for your influence on this WVU student. Rudy"

= = = = = = =
Prof. George Andrews, President of the American Mathematical Society, wrote by email on 2 Nov. 2009 as follows:

Dear Henry,
     This is terribly sad and comes as a great shock.  I well remember the examination of Shonhiwa.  It was a wonderful day and a wonderful moment. This is a grievous loss.  We all will mourn his death.
Sincerely,
George
= = = = = = =

Professor Arnold Knopfmacher, Department of Mathemnatics,Wits University, wrote by email 28 October 2009:
Dear Henry,

A further message I received:

Dear Professor Knopfmacher,

   I was a bit surprised to learn in September that Temba has been
hospitalized because when he left in August to devote all his time to
medical care, he was still strong enough to walk himself to his
second-floor office. However, I got the real shock when I paid him a
first visit at the hospital and realized how quickly his health had
deteriorated. He had also lost much more weight. At the next visit, I
discovered that despite all, not only his mind and senses had remained
perfect, but he was also really happy on that day, he ate the food that
I had brought for him, and even told me that he would like some orange
juice the next time that I come. That day, he also wrote down himself
for me his home and cell numbers, and his brother who was in the room
came next to him to check for the correctness, but just approved. Later
on, I couldn't believe my eyes that the numbers that he wrote were not
only correct, but showed no sign of illness. 

   The last time I paid him a visit was immediately after the
announcement by the school that his medical expenses have been approved
by the Medical Aid. Thus I brought him some chips and some orange juice
to congratulate him. Unfortunately, although he was still quite strong
(he even  quite easily got up from the bed by himself), he wasn't really
happy this time. While I was trying to explain that the treatment should
now be speeded up, he said only his wife knew about the current status of
that process.

   When I left that day, I smiled to him, confident that he will
recover.

   Through all this experience, I can just say that Temba was a very
bright and strong personality, full with the sense of truth and peace.

   May his soul rest in peace, and may the Lord welcome him and bless
his family.

Jean Claude Ndogmo
= = = = = = =
Professor Knopfmacher sent me on 28 Oct. a copy of the Memorial Programme for the funeral which contains a short obituary. He also sent a copy of a statement by Augustine O. Munagi, a colleague of Dr. Shonhiwa's at Wits University, who wrote as follows:

On Dr Temba Shonhiwa,

I first met Dr Shonhiwa in 2006 when I joined Wits University. We soon found that our areas of research interests have an important component in common namely, Elementary Number Theory - while I specialize in the elementary theory of partitions of numbers, Dr Shonhiwa dealt mostly with arithmetic functions. We proposed some research ideas and spent many leisure hours discussing mathematics. Dr Shonhiwa was passionate about mathematics research and this attitude of his influenced me positively. Our only published joint paper is "On the partitions of a number into arithmetic progressions", which appeared in Journal of Integer Sequences (Vol. 11 (2008), no. 08.5.4).

We also brainstormed out and explored the rudiments of what Dr Shonhiwa called "The Theory of Arithmetic Vector Functions". We opened a text file and accumulated ideas, with lots of ingenious input from him. Owing to his sudden death, it will take me much longer to complete the article, working solo. Nonetheless, this is one project that must be finished and publicized in Dr Shonhiwa's honor, albeit posthumously.

Lately, we discussed the notion of relatively-prime subsets, and considered an extension of the well-studied flat case to PAIRWISE-relatively-prime subsets. This problem turned out to be very hard even though we obtained a few special results.

However, drawing from his rich background on the "relatively-prime" theme, he independently completed an article on relatively-prime subsets which he submitted to the INTEGERS journal at about June 2009. The manuscript is probably still undergoing the usual refereeing process prior to acceptance for publication.

The death of Dr Shonhiwa hit me as a great loss. I will miss him as a friend and as a genial mathematics collaborator. 

Augustine O. Munagi

= = = = = = =

The following item is from the web site
<http://zimbabweoutpostoftyranny.typepad.com/zimbabwe_outpost_of_tyran/2007/08/first-they-came.html>

Eddie Cross has passed on this modified version of the poem, authored by a Zimbabwean Professor of Mathematics at University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), Dr. Temba Shonhiwa, entitled "First they Came for the Farmers":

First They Came for the Farmers

First they came for the Farmers
and I did not speak out
because I was not a farmer.
Then they came for the MDC activists
and I did not speak out
because I was not an MDC activist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the industrialists/merchants and I did not speak out because I was not an industrialist/merchant.
Then they came for the landlords
and I did not speak out
because I was not a landlord.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.


- - - Dr. Temba Shonhiwa,
School of Mathematics,
University of the Witwatersrand

Comment: Temba's love of freedom and resistance to oppression is shown so vividly in his varation on Martin Niemöller's famous poem.

= = = = = = =
Temba Shonhiwa at his office door at Wits University:
Temba at his Wits office
Photo taken by Prof. Michael E. Mays c. 2006
= = = = = = =

A special Memorial, with altar flowers for departed relatives and friends, was held at Trinity Episcopal Church, Morgantown, WV, on Sunday 29 November 2009. Among those remembered and whose names were printed on the Memorial Program was Temba Shonhiwa.

Updated  16 December 2009