The Hon. T. Boye Nelson, Sr.

The Nelson, Lape, Karr, Boima, Sackie and Kemokai families announce with profound regret the passing of their patriarch, His Excellency, the Honorable Ambassador T. Boye Nelson, Sr. This sad event occurred at his home in Monrovia, Liberia on Wednesday, December 21, 2005, at 10:00 a.m. local time.

T. Boye Nelson, Sr., was born on November 21, 1930, in the village of Picnecess in Grand Kru County (then Maryland County) to the union of Peter Gbae Nelson and Nyesnah Nelson. He spent his early years in Picnecess, and his formative academic years in the Ghanaian cities of Accra and Sekondi-Takoradi, where his father, a traveling businessman, had moved the family for economic reasons. He returned to Liberia prior to his 19th birthday in 1949.

T. Boye Nelson, Sr., served his country for a little more than a half a century in a number of senior level executive positions. He began his career as a member of the first graduating class of the Liberian National Police Force in the early 1950's. He would eventually serve as a Special Assistant to the Director of the National Police Force. His stellar service in that capacity led President William V.S. Tubman to appoint him to the post of Deputy Director of the Executive Action Bureau (E.A.B.), at the behest of then Director, Nathanial Baker. He would later assume the Directorship of said bureau upon the passing of Mr. Baker.

In the mid 1970's, President William R. Tolbert directed Mr. Nelson to devise a plan to streamline the security infrastructure of Liberia. The result was the merger of several security concerns (including the Executive Action Bureau and the National Bureau of Investigation - N.B.I.) into a single cohesive entity -- the National Security Agency (N.S.A.). He would lead the agency as its Director until mid 1979, when President Tolbert promoted him to the cabinet level position of National Security Advisor.

After the governmental change in 1980, Head of State Samuel K. Doe appointed Mr. Nelson to the post of Ambassador-at-Large, and charged him with the responsibility of designing and maintaining the security systems for all of the Liberian missions abroad. In 1986, then President Doe appointed him Ambassador Extraordinary Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Ghana, a position he held until 1992 when he requested early retirement.

At the onset of the Third Republic in 1997, President Charles G. M. Taylor appointed Ambassador Nelson to the post of Ambassador to the state of Israel, but he turned down the honor for health reasons, remarking that "the rigors of an ambassadorship require a level of vigor that he no longer possessed". He would accept an unpaid consulting position as Special Advisor to the Director of National Security and the full Executive Branch. He held that position until early 2002, when poor health forced him into permanent retirement. In addition to English, he spoke Kru, his native tongue, and the Gan language of Ghana.

Ambassador Nelson leaves to mourn his loss his wife of thirty-six years, Mrs. Selina Garmai Nelson, twelve children (including Eleanor Munah Nelson-Karr, Regina Tarlorh Nelson, Christian Kofa "Nokofo" Nelson, Sophie Tete Nelson-Boimah, Oretha Jugbeh Nelson, Geide-de Nelson, Thomas Boye (T. Boye) Nelson, Jr., Andrew Forkay Nelson and Charles Sonpon Nelson), twenty-two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He is also survived by two brothers, George Doyen Nelson and Blamoh Nelson (Senator-elect, Grand Kru County) two sisters, Elizabeth Nelson and Munah Nelson (a third sister Tarlorh Nelson, predeceased him in October of 2005), several children he reared (including Henry Geazi Lape, Weedor Pluvah Lape-Sackie, James Flomo Geazi and Evangeline Musu Askie-Kemokai ), and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and extended family members across West Africa, Europe and the Americas.

Funeral services are slated for Saturday, January 14 at the Ebenezer United Methodist Church in Monrovia, with interment to follow at the Tweh Farm Cemetery on Bushrod Island in greater Monrovia. May his soul rest in permanent peace.

The extended family greatly appreciates the expressions of sympathy that have been accorded thus far and invite well wishers to contact them at the postal addresses, numbers and electronic mailing address below:

In the United States:
17937 Skymeadow Way
Sandy Spring, MD 20860-1032

In Liberia:
The Nelson Family Compound
Caldwell Junction, Bushrod Island, Monrovia

Telephones:
Mrs. Selina Garmai Nelson - 011-231-6-599451 (Liberia)
Sen. Blamoh Nelson - 011-231-6-512519 (Liberia)
Thomas Boye Nelson, Jr. - (301)260-1271 (h), (301)806-8461 (c), admtnelson@gmail.com
Christian Kofa "Nokofo" Nelson - 301-367-8067 (c), noko4@.msn.com
Henry and Annie Lape - 301- 228-2257 (h)
Preston and Eleanor Nelson-Karr - 763-780-5479 (h)
Sophie Tete Nelson-Boimah - 770-477-5379 (h)
James and Weedor Lape-Sackie - 617-232-8523
Andrew Forkay Nelson - 240-533-7355 (c), forkay100@yahoo.com
Charles Sonpon Nelson - 011-231-6-541211 (Liberia)