Kazeneza Steven Kaneza

Steven Kaneza was born on January 6th, 1996, in Huye, Rwanda. He passed away in Troy, Ohio on April 7th,2022, where he lived with his mother since January 1st, 2022, after moving from Cincinnati where they lived since December 24th ,2019.

Steven was preceded in death by his father Augustin Kazeneza (1998), and his grandfather Festus Mayira (2012).
He is survived by his mother, Elvanie; grandparents, Augustin Ndarihoranye (his wife Ester); aunts, Agnes, Edith Mukangamije and her children Divine Umuhoza, Ange Gilbert and Ange Divin, who he lived with before immigrating to the US in 2019; and uncles, Athanase, Venuste and Jean; on his dad's side, there are uncles, Janvier Benimana Fils, Desire, Byiringiro, Jyambere, aunts, Beatrice, Dative, Esperance, Rukundo and cousins; his best friends Fred (classmates) and Omar who visited him very often especially during covid-19 lock-down, other relatives Ben Nkiko, Laurie Nkiko (their 2 children Joshua and Michael), Fr Lambert Ulinzwenimana, Oliver Uwamahoro (Athanasie his wife and their child Michael), Dr. Mureramanzi, his wife Juliet and children Jeanine, Lydie (his best friend), and victor, Patrick (and his family).

He attended Kindergarten at the Catholic School of Rango between 1999 to 2001. From 2002 to 2006 he attended Catholic Primary School of Groupe Scolaire Officiel de Butare. In 2007, he moved to Kigali City and continued at St Famille Catholic Primary School until 2009. He went on and attended his Secondary School at Kabarondo High School located in Eastern Province of Rwanda. One year later, he transferred to Nyagisenyi High School, Southern Province where he got his O'level in 2012. He graduated from Nyanza Technical High School with A'Level in 2016. He obtained his Degree in Mechanical Engineering with honors from Integrated Polytechnic Center (IPRC) of Huye-Rwanda in 2019.

His faith started at 4 years old when he served during the Mass. He was baptized and received his first communion in 2004. He received confirmation two years later in 2006 at DOMINUS PACIS Catholic church of the University of Rwanda. Just before he moved to the US, he converted to a Jehovah's Witness and was a practicing JW until his last day.

He migrated to the US to join his mother in December 2019. He quickly embraced the new culture but also maintained his African heritage. He joined various groups that made his integration much easier and made him feel welcomed - one of them was Kiswahili Group of Dayton, Ohio -Thank you all members of this group.
Most important in Steve's life were Faith, Family, and Friends. He strongly believed in God and liked to have fun. During his downtime, he enjoyed walking, visiting touristic locations, gaming, reading, watching football (Chelsea football club was his favorite team) as well as watching movies.

Unfortunately, Steve was diagnosed with Diabetes before he moved to the US. His doctor back in his home country treated him for type 2 diabetes. After he moved to the US, Doctors diagnosed him with a Type 1 diabetes, and he was prescribed an intravenous insulin injection and other meds that weakened him to the point that he had to quit his jobs at Amazon and DoorDash until the time he passed. On April 7, 2022, at 4pm his mother came home from work and found Steve laying in the bathtub already dead.

We thank everybody for the support, love and the comfort to the family during this sad time.

A visitation will be held from 5:00pm to 8:00pm on Thursday, April 21, 2022 at Newcomer North Chapel, 4104 Needmore Road, in Dayton. The funeral service will begin the following day, on Friday, April 22, 2022 at 10:30am. A burial will follow at Willow View Cemetery.

Kazeneza's services will be livestreamed at the scheduled service time. Click Here to view the service.

To share a memory of Steve or to leave a special for his family, please visit the guestbook below.