The Global Executives and the entire membership of the APSEC Old Students’ Association (APOSA) have received with profound sorrow the news of the passing of Hon. Samuel Arthur Odoi Sykes Esq., the first Headmaster of Abetifi Presbyterian Secondary School (APSEC).

Hon. Odoi Sykes passed away on Monday, 5th October 2026, at the age of 98.

His passing comes at a deeply poignant moment — just a month before APSEC gathers to celebrate 70 years of academic and character excellence.

As we prepare to commemorate seven decades of our school’s history, we are reminded that every great institution has its pioneers; men and women whose vision, sacrifice and commitment established the very foundations upon which generations subsequently build.

For APSEC, Hon. S. A. Odoi Sykes was one such pioneer. Indeed, he was at the very beginning of our story. As the first Headmaster of APSEC, Hon. Odoi Sykes occupied a position that can never be replicated. He was entrusted with the enormous responsibility of helping to shape a young institution and establish the standards that would define it.

His contribution went beyond classrooms, timetables and administration. He helped establish a culture of academic discipline, moral formation, character development, responsibility and service; values that have continued to sink deep into the fibre of APSEC students across generations.

The APSEC we celebrate today is therefore connected directly to the pioneering work of its first Headmaster.

Every classroom built, every student taught, every alumni who has gone on to serve society, and every generation that has carried the APSEC name into the wider world forms part of the continuing story of that foundation.

His work was not merely to start a school. His work was to help start a tradition.

Perhaps the most profound way to understand the legacy of Hon. Odoi Sykes is to look at what he did after APSEC and the breadth of service he rendered to Ghana.

His life reflected the very philosophy that APSEC seeks to instil in its students — that education is not merely for personal advancement, but for service to humanity and the nation.

As APSEC approaches its 70th Anniversary, we mourn the passing of one of the individuals who helped make the celebration possible.

The anniversary is not only a celebration of where we have come from, but also an opportunity to reflect on the shoulders upon which generations of APSECANS stand.

Hon. S. A. Odoi Sykes is one of those shoulders.

His legacy lives in the history of APSEC.

It lives in the values of discipline, service and character.

It lives in the thousands of students who have passed through the school.

It lives in the graduates who continue to serve in Ghana and beyond.

And it lives in the enduring challenge to every APSECAN:

On behalf of the Global Executives and the entire APSEC Old Students’ Association (APOSA), we extend our deepest condolences to his beloved wife, his children, the Odoi Sykes family, the APSEC community and all who mourn his passing.

Tributes in his honour are warmly welcomed and may be sent to odoisykes@gmail.com, to arrive not later than Friday, 23rd October 2026. Funeral arrangements will be communicated in due course and will be posted on this page as soon as the family releases them.