William Kwabena Asiedu, popularly known as Willie Asiedu among his colleagues at Pasico and by his family members, passed away on Thursday, 28th October 2021, at the age of 74. Willie worked at Pasico for 44 years, after which he retired from active service.
Willie joined Pasico Ghana Ltd. in 1970, coming from very humble beginnings. He quickly rose through the ranks and held the following roles at Pasico: Workshop Manager, Field Operations Engineer, Field Service Engineer, and Service Manager. He performed routine maintenance service and repair work on a range of equipment, including the JCB range of equipment, Mobile Hydraulic Cranes, Boss Forklifts, and Benford Construction Equipment.
For many years Willie’s expertise became the standard in after-sales support for Mobile hydraulic cranes in Ghana. Willie’s skills were greatly sought after by the mining and industry companies that Pasico worked with. When Willie was on-site, problems got solved. Willie was a versatile and adaptive worker, applying his expertise wherever it was needed in the company.
Willie mentored several young Technicians and Engineers who were lucky to work under his supervision. He was the first Pasico Ghanaian Service Engineer to travel overseas on training and blazed a trail for his many successors today who now make up the core of our engineering team.
‘’Willie was a trusted and old friend since 1984 and was loved and admired by all his colleagues, our customers, our principals, and my family. His cheerful demeanour in the face of seemingly impossible technical problems was inspiring. Willie was the first Ghanaian service engineer to travel overseas on training and made many subsequent visits – all earned due to his work ethic, his grit, and intuitive ability to achieve success in resolving engineering problems. I have a very special reason to have respect for and to be grateful to Willie for helping me in my early days at Pasico. Had it not been for his brave support of me I should never have survived in Pasico. During a long lifetime, I have met a number of outstanding people. Without any doubt, Willie stands head and shoulders with the very best. Rest peacefully old friend. ‘’ – Edward Lyne, Non-Executive Director, Paterson Simons
‘’So sad to hear of the passing of Willie, I have very fond memories of our times together in Ghana.’’ – Paul Hargreave, former Service Director Africa, Grove Cranes
‘’I’m very sorry & saddened to hear of Willie’s passing away, he was a very good friend to me for the many years that I spent in Ghana, we took a few Green Bottles together on the many social visits to Aburi, along with some of his sons & cousin Sam, those days unfortunately have also passed. My condolences to his family.’’ – George Maynard, former Service Engineer, Boss Forklifts
Willie is survived by his wife, two sons, three daughters, and thirteen grandchildren.
May his soul rest peacefully.
See a few photos of Willie and the team (including Henry Lyne, Director, Group Strategy at Paterson Simons) quite a few years ago, below. (Standards of PPE are much improved these days).
