Donatus Ohanehi passed away on April 14, 2022. He was born in Nigeria and came to the United States to attend college, earning his master's and doctorate degrees in mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech between 1974 and 1980 under the supervision of Larry Mitchell. Ohanehi remained in Blacksburg, working as a Senior Engineer for Kollmorgen Corporation from 1980-1994 and a research scientist and instructor at Virginia Tech in several departments within the College of Engineering for more than 25 years.

He is survived by sisters Anastasia Nwamarabia Okechukwu, Perpetua Ngozi Iloduba, Mary Bernadette Ifunanya Ohanehi of Nigeria and his brother, Emmanuel Emeka Ohanehi, who resides in Qatar.  A private burial is planned, followed by a memorial during summer 2022.