Media veteran Professor James Kpateh Wolo, who passed on Sunday, September 11, is expected to be interred on Saturday, October 1, at the Johnsonville Cemetery.

According to an obituary announcement from the late Professor’s family, a quiet hour will be observed by the family and sympathizers at the St. Moses Funeral Parlor on Somalia Drive on Friday, September 30, at 7 p.m. This will be followed by a night of silent wake keeping at the home of the deceased in Area C, house # 67, Barnersville Estate.

“On Saturday October 1, the remains of Prof. Wolo will be removed from the St. Moses Funeral Parlor at 8 a.m. and taken to the Holy Martyrs Parish in Barnersville Estate where wake keeping will begin at 10 a.m. to be followed by the Mass of Resurrection at 11 a.m.,” a family statement said.

The family said all tributes, except for those from the Liberian government (reading of the Official Gazette), the Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS), the Church and the family, will be paid during the wake-keeping.

The Professor’s death came as another blow to the Liberian media community which had just laid to rest one of its strong, innovative and talented members—Lawrence Togar Randall—on Saturday, September 10. Few hours after that ceremony, news filtered in that Prof. Wolo, as he was affectionately called, had died at the John F. Kennedy Medical Hospital in Sinkor.

The Late Wolo had slipped into coma for a week and did not recover.

Prof. Wolo, who was in his early 70s, served in many media capacities, including former Deputy Minister for Administration, Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism; former Director-General, Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS); and former Executive Producer, LBS.

He also served as former presenter, LBS post newscast daily inspirational program, “Thought for Today”; former Community Relations Head, Liberia Rural Communications Network; and former Producer, ELCM (Catholic Radio now Radio Veritas).

Other posts he held included Administrator, Save the Children, UK; Executive Producer, Mercy Corps Peace building Radio Project; Head, Media Monitoring and Development Unit, United Nations Mission in Liberia and Editor-In-Chief, Liberia News Agency (LINA). He also served as CEO, Media 2000, a media training and development firm; Lecturer, Communications and Public Affairs, Liberia National Police Training Academy; Lecturer, Development Communications, Mass Communications Department, University of Liberia; and Chairman of the Board, Association of Liberia Community Radio.

Prof. Wolo was also a lecturer at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), which trains Liberia’s diplomats for the field.

The late Wolo is survived by his widow, Mrs. Pricilla B. Wolo, eight children, several grandchildren, brothers and sisters, nephews, nieces and a host of other relatives and friends in Liberia, the United States of America, Ghana and other parts of the world.

Meanwhile, the LBS management has opened a Book of Condolence today for the late Wolo, who served as Managing Director of the system.

The ceremony, according to an LBS statement, is intended to remember the numerous contributions Prof. Wolo made while serving as the system’s Managing Director.

The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) is mourning the death of its Assistant Minister for Budget, Augustine Kaifa Blama, who died yesterday at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Monrovia.

According to an MFDP announcement, Blama will be buried today, in line with his Islamic faith, in Nyandiayama, Lofa County, after prayers for the departed.

Finance Minister Boima S. Kamara, who led a senior management team to the deceased’s residence yesterday, described Blama’s death as a void left in the Ministry’s workforce, especially the Department of Budget and Development Planning, which he served with diligence and absolute loyalty.

While consoling Mrs. Blama and members of the bereaved family, Minister Kamara called on them to keep faith in the Lord, as he assured them of the Ministry’s full participation in all of the events before, during and after his burial.

Also sympathizing with the bereaved family, MFDP’s Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning, Tanneh G. Brunson, who served as immediate supervisor to the late Assistant Minister, indicated that he was one of her technicians who always executed his tasks and was in readiness to perform additional duties.

Meanwhile, MFDP staff described the late Minister’s sudden death as a shock, with many employees calling on the bereaved family to accept the death as the will of God.

They stated that some of the MFDP employees, who were either supervised by or directly interacted with the late Assistant Minister, indicated that he did not only serve as the nucleus of the budget section, but was always receptive and provided the needed guidance and encouragement to ensure that they acquired the requisite knowledge.

Prior to his appointment as Assistant Minister of Budget in 2014, Blama, who started working for the government in 2000, served in various positions in the securities sector, as well as the research and budgetary policy sector.

Some of the posts he held included Research Analyst; Budget Staff Analyst; Chief Senior Analyst; Controlling Principal Analyst; and Assistant Director General, Research Department at the erstwhile Bureau of the Budget, Ministry of Finance.

Mrs. Euphemia Weeks, widow of Dr. Rocheforte Lafayette Weeks, former President of the University of Liberia and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, R.L., died at 1 o’clock a.m. yesterday at the Congo Town home of her daughter, Liberia Telecommunications Authority Chairperson Angelique Weeks, following a brief illness.

Mrs. Euphemia Weeks, mother of eight outstanding children, was in her 90th year.

When on February 6, 2013, she turned 86; Mrs. Weeks’ children held a thanksgiving service for her at the Reeves Memorial United Methodist Church, Crozierville, ancestral home of the Weeks family. On that occasion, Mrs. Weeks gave thanks to Almighty God for sparing her life.

The Daily Observer at the time held an exclusive interview with her, which appeared on the front and center-spread pages of the newspaper. The interview was conducted by then Observer Editor Fatoumata Nabie Fofana, who quoted Mrs. Weeks as saying that she appreciated

God because He had shown His goodness and faithfulness to her in the midst of it all. She strongly believed that whatever might have happened to her was God’s design for her life. She appreciated God for the gift of life, she told Fatou, and thanked Him for her children, especially her two daughters, Ophelia (Fifi), who holds a PhD in Neurology and held a full professorship at Florida International University, and Angelique Euphemia, a lawyer like her father and currently Chair of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority.

Before she turned 86, the octogenarian told Fatou that she (Mrs. Weeks) had recently narrowly escaped death when doctors in Monrovia told her that 99 percent of her main blood vessel was closed. They said she would be dead if she had stayed in Liberia a day or two longer.

Her daughter Angelique sacrificially had her mom flown to England, where she achieved full recovery.

Born in Harper, Cape Palmas on February 6, 1927 to the union of Dr. Juris Daubeny Bartholomew Cooper, former Solicitor General of Liberia, and his wife Mrs. Emma Juliet Stewart Cooper, young Euphemia received her early and secondary education in Cape Palmas. She later traveled to Monrovia and her father sent her to the United States to study Secretarial Science at Howard University. She traveled on the same boat in 1949 with Rocheforte L. Weeks, already a graduate of Liberia College (now University of Liberia).

Euphemia was asked by one of her friends to “take care of” her friend Rocheforte on the boat trip to America. Euphemia took such good care of Rocheforte that by the time they reached New York, they were deeply in love, and were married on April 1, 1950 in Washington, D.C.

The following September their first child, Rocheforte, Jr., was born, followed by Fifi (Ophelia) and six other talented children. When Rocheforte, Sr., who had already served as UL President, the first Liberian to hold that position, and Foreign Minister, died in 1986 the couple had been happily married 36 years.

Before she left for studies in the USA in 1949, Euphemia joined the Greenwood Singers, a popular choral group in Monrovia, organized by Jacob Henry Browne, with several other young men. She played musical instruments for the Greenwood Singers.

Mrs. Weeks was born an Episcopalian but later became a Methodist after marrying Rocheforte, a staunch member of Reeves Memorial in Crozierville, where she, too remained a lifelong member until her passing yesterday.

Funeral arrangements will be announced later.

Mrs. Weeks was predeceased by her husband, Dr. Rocheforte L. Weeks, two brothers, Llewellyn and Daubeny Bartholomew Cooper II; and two sisters, Maryland Ophelia Cooper and Latifa Cynthia Cooper Kamara.

Survivors include her eight children, Rocheforte, Jr., an entrepreneur and businessman, Dr. Ophelia (Fifi) Inez Weeks, a Urology professor at Florida International University, now Vice President, University of Liberia, where she grew up from age 7; Julius Louis, a patent specialist;
Vittorio A.J., Comptroller, St. Georges School System, Maryland, USA; Daubeny Alexander Weeks, a mechanical engineer and Consultant, IBI International; Angelique Euphemia Weeks, Chair of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA), RL; Milton Alvin Weeks, Executive

Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL); and Ronald Avery Weeks, a chemical engineer and Chief Engineer at Honeywell Solutions, USA; sister Trypetus Daphne Cooper; brothers Gerald Ferguson Burns Cooper, Randolph C.J. Cooper and Seward Montgomery Cooper.

The death is announced of Mr. Thomas N. Nagbe, a sad event which the family said occurred on October 10, 2016, in Pickness Cess, Grand Kru County, Southeastern-Liberia. Mr. Nagbe was born on November 21, 1931, and died on October 10, 2016.

On October 22, the Mr. Nagbe remains will be removed to Pickness Cess for a night of wake keeping.

According to the family spokesperson, Jw the obituary goes to the deceased relatives and children in Liberia other parts of the world, especially Mrs. Agatha Nagbe-Cooper of the USA, the son of the deceased, Jeremiah B. Nagbe has said.

Residents along the main road leading from Fendall through Bentol city to Crozierville stood agape late Saturday morning when a fleet of vehicles, the longest some of these people have seen in their lives, passed through their areas and finally landed at the Reeves Memorial United Methodist Church in the latter town.

With these vehicles pouring into the township of Crozierville, it was becoming evident that the township might just be hosting its largest crowd in years. The church was at its capacity with two canopies erected in the church’s compound where the events inside the church edifice were screened.

Indeed, Liberians in their numbers (many from the governmental circle) paid their last respects to Eupheme Geraldine Cooper Weeks, a woman of substance whose exemplary life was highlighted in earlier editions of the Daily Observer and other newspapers. She died in her 90th year.

Even a host of birds, hovering above their nests in the trees near the church bell, sang endless melodies until she was interred. Such congregation of man and nature is truly rare; perhaps as rare as Mrs. Eupheme Geraldine Cooper Weeks herself, whose many years of exemplary service to the UMC could not possibly be contained in the all the tributes that had been paid her so far.

Rev. Jervis Witherspoon, who gave the funeral discourse, described her as a virtuous woman. “Pheme,” as she was affectionately called, “was very modest in her ways,” he said.

He spoke from Proverbs 31:10, 28. The first verse asks the noble question, “a virtuous wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.” He further elaborated on the characteristics that such a worthy woman possesses. And because of these, he said, the second verse indicates how such a woman is praised by her children and her husband.

Also elaborating from Proverbs 31:30, which states, “Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the LORD she shall be praised;” the preacher noted that the kind of beauty that lasts is the beauty that reflects an inward heart of submission and a love for God and His people.

He said death is a natural process, the result of the fall of mankind, but noted that “Pheme had wisdom, was gentle and submitted herself to the will of God.”

He said Pheme was a blessed woman because though the Bible predicts three scores and ten as the lifespan of an individual, with another ten years if the person is blessed by God, Pheme was fortunate to have gone four scores and ten.

She was married to the illustrious UL President Rocheforte Weeks, who was responsible for the tertiary education of thousands of students. His wife supported him in all this, and made sure that he was prepared each day for work.

Rev. Witherspoon also spoke about how Pheme meticulously and sacrificially took care of her children’s primary and secondary education. By this she had laid their academic and professional foundations, which successes are clearly seen in the current administration, where most of them hold top positions. “It is no secret that the Weeks’ and the McClains are the most influential families of the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration,” he said.

“We pray that all Liberian mothers will follow Mrs. Pheme Weeks’ sterling example by attaching importance to education of their children,” the preacher said.

Meanwhile, Pheme is survived by eight biological children, and a host of other children. Her children include Angelique Eupheme Weeks, a lawyer like her father, Chair of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA); and Milton Weeks, the second youngest son, is Executive Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia. Ophelia Inez (Fifi,) the first sister, who earned a Ph.D in Neurology and became full professor at Florida International University, and is now Vice President of Science and Technology at the University of Liberia. Fifi was only seven when
President W.V.S. Tubman appointed her father, Rocheforte Sr., as UL President at the young age of 35.

The eldest of the Weeks children, Rocheforte Jr., from the 1970s and 1980s ran a highly successful electrical company, importing and distributing electrical equipment and supplies. This viable business was, however, destroyed during the war.

The Press Union of Liberia’s Welfare Committee has announced the death of another “Giant Tree” in the Liberian media. Family members say veteran journalist Paul Allen Wie died early this week.

Wie started off as a Radio Producer at ELWA Radio and later became editor at the Daily Listener and Liberian Star newspapers in the 1970s. He became Liberia’s correspondent for the Deutsche Presse Agentur (German News Agency).

He joined the Government of Liberia and served in several capacities including Information Officer, Regional Information Officer, Press Secretary at the National Legislature, Assistant Director for News and Public Affairs at the Liberia Broadcasting Corporation, now Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS).

At the Ministry of Information Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT), he ascended to the post of Deputy Minister for Research and Planning and later Acting Minister of Information during the Liberian Civil War (1990), when he replaced G. Moses Washington. Mr Washington had taken over from Minister J. Emmanuel Z. Bowier.

Wie is the 17th Liberian journalist to pass away in 2016. He is the second from the 1960s to 1970s media personalities to die in 2016. The first was John Louis Dennis III, former Director of Audio Visual at MICAT, in April 2016.

The PUL Welfare Committee through the Leadership (in transition) conveys its condolences to the bereaved family, a release signed by Ansu Sekou Konneh, out-going chairman, said.

The funeral of Mother Emily Louise Gibson Parsons, a prominent Liberian nurse of yesteryear, is scheduled to take place today at the St. Peter Episcopal Church, Caldwell.

According to her granddaughter, Counselor Althea E. Sherman, the body will be removed from the Samuel Stryker Funeral Home at 8 o’clock this morning and taken to St. Peter in Caldwell, where wake keeping will start at 10 o’clock a.m. The funeral service will start at 11 o’clock a.m.

Mother Gibson-Parsons died on December 4 at the Caldwell home of her daughter, Caldwell Commissioner Rev. Alexine Mendscole Howard.

The nonagenarian was in her 99th year.

A graduate of the Julia C. Emery Hall, Bromley Mission, Mother Parsons later obtained nursing training and became one of Liberia’s renowned nurses from Caldwell. She was one of the first nurses at the Liberian Government Hospital on Ashmun Street, Snapper Hill, Monrovia, serving under Dr. Dingwall.

Mother Parsons later joined the Liberian Mining Company (LMC), working in the pharmacy and later became head of the dispensary unit. She thereafter returned to the Liberian Government Hospital and worked at the Maternity Center.

She opened and headed the first clinic in the Township of Caldwell and ran it for 25 consecutive years but left because of the Liberian civil war.

Mrs. Parsons was born in Caldwell, Montserrado County on June 7, 1918 to the union of Senator John Clement Alexander Gibson, Sr. and Mrs. Eliza Prichard Wilson, also of Caldwell.

Emily received her early education at the Saint Peter’s Episcopal School in the Township of Caldwell and graduated from the Julia C. Emery Hall, Bromley Mission in Clay Ashland, Montserrado County.

She was baptized at an early age and became a member of St. Peter’s where she was awarded several certificates for hard work. She was a member of Queen Esther Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star.

During the 165th Independence Day Celebration of Liberia, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, as Grand Master of the Order of Distinctions of the Republic, conferred upon Mother Parsons the Grand Band, Order of the Star of Africa-Nonagenarian.

Mother Parsons’ survivors include her children, Commissioner and Pastor, Alexine Marina Mends-Cole Howard; Mr. Benoni A. Parsons (Fatima); Ms. Emily Karen Parsons; Mrs. Florence Neufville (Christian); Ms. Minty Mends-Cole; grand children Mrs. Althea Emily Eastman Sherman; Bernadine Lavern

Eastman; Mrs. Freda Alexzene Eastman; Mrs. Debra Jane Eastman Oladosu (Vance); Daphane Edwina Eastman; Candace Blachamka Eastman; Benedict Arma Parsons (Precious); Benoni A. Parsons, Jr. (Tina); Bennett Ahmed Parsons; Rachel Bentima Parsons; Mrs. Legendre Parsons Carter (Christina); Julius Tonia Coleman; Velma King and Shirley.

There is a growing movement among Liberian families to perform re-burial ceremonies for their loved ones who died during the war when it was difficult or impossible to inter them in their ancestral homes.

Among the first to be reinterred was former Bishop of the Lutheran Church in Liberia, Rt. Rev. Roland J. Payne, who died in Weinsue, Bong County, and was later reinterred at his home in Gorlue, Lofa County.

Another prominent personality to be reinterred was Paramount Chief Tamba Taylor, who during the 1990s served as President of the State Council of Liberia. He died in Monrovia in 2001. The body was buried in a mausoleum in Paynesville, near the Liberia Broadcasting System. In 2005 his remains were taken to his home in Foya District, Lofa County, where he now sleeps with his ancestors.

Last week the family of former Vice President Dr. Harry Moniba brought his remains back home from the United States, where he had died and was buried several years ago. The body was taken to his home in Kolahun, Lofa County, for re-interment.

Following the demolition of the over ten foot high fence that could not prevent the desecration of the Palm Grove Cemetery, Liberia’s premier burial grounds on Center Street in Monrovia, many families who are able are quietly, quickly relocating what remains of their loved ones they can find. Many other families may not be so lucky to locate and recover from this cemetery any remains which drug addicts, the homeless, thieves and other miscreants have displaced to accommodate themselves.

One of the latest reinterment rites to take place was held last Saturday in Qweinta, near the St. Paul River town of Haindii in Fuamah Chiefdom, Bong County.

There, family members, friends and residents of Haindii and Qweinta gathered to celebrate the reinterment of their two fallen heroes. One was Reverend Byron Zolu Traub, a Lutheran pastor, teacher, pioneer Adult Literacy expert and former Senator of Bong County. The other, Liberia’s first ophthalmologist (eye specialist), Dr. Zolu Dumah Traub.

The celebration was described in tributes as “the interment of great men whose legacies must live from generation to generation, especially by the people of Qweinta, Haindii and Bong County and Liberia as a whole.”

Rev. Byron Z. Traub was born in 1908 and passed away October 10, 1994 while Dr. Zolu Dumah Traub, was born on December 8, 1930 in Dobli Island, Bong County and died of ‘heart failure’ on July 31, 2003 at the Firestone Medical Center at Du Side, near Harbel on the Firstone Plantation in Margibi County.

Because of the Liberian civil crisis and other circumstances taking place at the times of their demise, Rev. Traub and his son Dumah, were buried in the Duport Road Cemetery in Paynesville, a graveyard appallingly desecrated over the years by some residents of the community and others passing through who use it as a public toilet and a dumpsite.

The re-interment ceremony was marked by a new tradition – with family, friends and residents of Qweinta and neighboring villages rejoicing and not crying, as is customary in Liberia. The family expressed joy and relief that their months of planning to remove their loved ones’ remains from a horrendous gravesite and bring them home to lie in decency and dignity among other deceased in the family burial site had been fulfilled.

The occasion was marked by beautiful selections by the local Kpelle choir, solo by Bai Sama Best, grandson of Senator Traub, and by tributes and reflections on the lives of the two departed by friends and family. Dr. Thelma Awori, one of the Traub siblings and Liberia’s Consul General in Kampala, Uganda, expressed heartfelt thanks to friends and family in Liberia and the United States who helped to make the reburial ceremony possible.

Dr. Roseda E. Marshall, a representative of the John F. Kennedy Medical Center, stressed the need for the family of the departed men to celebrate their legacies and contributions to society. There was no need to cry, she said, because their lives were richly spent and highly meaningful to society.

“I have come to celebrate great people whose memories continue to exist and not to cry anymore. Let us celebrate people whose lives deserve celebration,” Dr. Marshall said.

“Blessed is the child who dies in the Lord,” declared Rev. Edith Ricks, a longtime family friend and sister of the Traub daughters, Mrs. Joyce Traub, Dr. Thelma Awori, , Mrs. Mae Gene Best and her husband Kenneth Y. Best, Publisher of the Daily Observer newspaper, and Mrs. Juanita Bropleh, Deputy Minister of Transport.

“It was time,” Rev. Ricks said, “to begin the celebration of the Traubs’ heritage and the contributions which both Senator Traub, his wife Margaret and their son Dumah Zolu made to my life.”

She said her family will always remember the Traub family, adding, “These great people’s legacies must never die, because they lived rewarding lives even for friends and those who needed them.”

The Rev. Isaac Dowah, Monrovia’s St. Peter’s Lutheran Church Pastor-in-Charge, lauded the family for taking the decision to relocate their fathers, uncles and brothers to their place of origin.

“This is an honorable and worthy initiative you have taken and God will bless you all for it. We will always miss the Traubs, but the best thing is not to worry about them anymore,” Dowah encouraged the family.

He called on them always to celebrate the deaths of their fallen heroes and not to engage in anything contrary to the exemplary lives they lived.

“I can see why the family decided to relocate these great men here…they took the responsibilities for their children, and their children also listened to them. So today is a renewal of the faith and trust in God,” Priest Dowah added. Among the officiating clergy were Rev. Dr. Eric M. Allison, a nephew of Rev. Traub and Rev. Wuo Laywhyee, Pastor of the Kpolokpele Parish at Haindii.

Fatta Yarsiah, Clan Chief of Zeweakormu Clan in Fuamah District, who spoke on behalf of Korpo Barclay, Representative of Fuamah District, Bong County, lauded the family for such initiative, extending the lawmaker’s compliments to the family and friends.

“We are happy to celebeate the reinterment of the Traubs with you,” Madam Yarsiah said.

All the speakers recounted the contributions and legacies of the Traubs, and called on family members to continue to produce such great people that will seek the welfare of others in need, and not just their own children. Among the speakers was Mr. John T. Woods, whose godparents were Rev. and Mrs. Traub.

The occasion was graced by several personalities, including Mrs. Zoe Traub, widow of Dr. Traub and son Vaani Traub and his family; Dr. Wvannie Scott-McDonald, Chief Administrative Officer at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center; Mr. Joseph P. Keller of the Liberia International Ship Register (LISCR) and first cousin of the Traub offsprings; his younger brothers Ezra and Yarkpai Keller; whose father’s remains have also been removed from the Duport Road Cemetery and will be reinterred later this month at his farm near Haindii. Rev. Ezra Keller was the first President of the Lutheran Church in Liberia.

About the Deceaseds
Rev. Byron Z. Traub obtained his early education up to 4th grade at the Kpolopkelleh Lutheran Mission in Haindii near his home. On graduation from elementary school, he became an evangelist, a vocation that he developed and remained committed to for the rest of his life.

He was then taken to Muhlenburg Boy’s School in Millsburg, Montserrado County, where he completed the 8th grade. It was at Muhlenburg that he found the Lord, was baptized, and took a course in catechism while still an elementary student.

Rev. Traub graduated from the College of West Africa (CWA) with honors. Eager to continue his education, Byron matriculated to Liberia College (Now University of Liberia) where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree.

He later returned to Muhlenburg where he taught at his alma mater for many years. It was there that he met his future companion, Margaret Stewart.

Rev. Traub also did a postgraduate course in Theology at the Hartford Theological Seminary in Connecticut, USA.

Rev. Traub devoted much of his life to teaching, which was his lifetime profession, serving in the classroom in many places throughout the country for over forty years.

Dr. Zolu Dumah Traub commenced his education at the Kpolokpelleh Lutheran Mission at Haindii, near Dobli Island. At the age of ten, his parents gave him to Rev. Byron Z. Traub and his wife Margaret, who adopted him.

Dumah was sent to Muhlenburg Boy’s School in Millsburg, Montserrado County, where he completed his elementary education and later entered the Lutheran Training Institute (LTI), graduating in LTI’s first class.

He attended Cuttington College and Divinity School (Now Cuttington University), graduating in 1954. That same year, Dumah was among a few Liberian scholars who received scholarships from the World Health Organization to study medicine in Spain.

He received his M. D. degree in 1961. Dumah later received another scholarship to study Ophthalmology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and its sister institution, Hebrew Hadassah University Hospital at Mount Scopus in Israel.

The eye doctor of the late President William V.S. Tubman, Dumah is fondly remembered by many patients he treated and also for getting along with his colleagues, friends and family.

The death is announced of Ambassador Carlton Karpeh, former Minister of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT), during the administration of Head of State Samuel K. Doe and the People’s Redemption Council (PRC).

This sad event occurred yesterday at his Duport Road residence at 1pm.
He was in his early 80s.

C. Alexwyn, as his friends and associates called him, was a product of the College of West Africa (CWA). He spent his boyhood and young adulthood living with an aunt, Mrs. Versa Stewart, at her home at Broad Street, Snapper Hill, Monrovia, the spot on which UBA Bank is now located. Carlton was noted for public speaking, a skill he developed as a young fellow in the 1940s and 50s at Trinity Sunday School, especially under the direction of Mr. Jacob Henry Browne, the Sunday School Superintendent. Mr. Browne often referred to Carlton as “Chorister Carlton Karpeh,” because of his rich baritone voice.

Following his graduation from CWA, Carlton in the 1950s traveled to England for further studies. On return he became a broadcaster at ELBC. In 1973 he was appointed Director of Public Affairs at MICAT, during the administration of Dr. Edward B. Kesselly. In the late 1970s, Carlton started a weekly newspaper, Weekend News.

During the administration of Head of State Samuel K. Doe, Carlton was appointed at MICAT, following which he was appointed Liberian Ambassador to Cameroon, where he served for many years. On his return, President Ellen Johnson appointed him Ambassador-at-Large. He was retired on December 2, 2010, and has since been living quietly at home on Du Port Road, outside Monrovia.

He is survived by several children.

Funeral arrangements will be announced later.

The death is announced of Mr. William (Bill) Lyon Morris Sr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Morris-American Rubber Company, commonly known as Morris Farm of Todee District, Montserrado County, and Kakata, Margibi County.

Bill passed peacefully at home in New York City last Friday, March 3, 2017. He was 68.

He was the son of Mr. Harry L. Morris, Liberia’s biggest rubber planter besides the Firestone Plantations Company. Mr. Morris, who died in New York in the early 1990s, had been acclaimed, since the 1950s, to be the “rubber king of the world” because no other individual had planted more rubber than he. His rubber plantation in Kakata, Margibi County, and Todee District, Montserrado County, Liberia, at one point reached 8,000 acres, outstripping all other individual rubber planters in
Liberia and around the world.

Harry Morris married an American, Mrs. Wilma Holland Morris, and this union was blessed with three children, Constance, Bill and Judith. Constance became an educator and administrator, Bill an agriculturist like his father, and Judith, a medical doctor who has a practice in Manhattan, New York City.

Bill Lyon Morris, the couple’s only son, was born November 18, 1948 and graduated from Bordentown Military Institute in Bordentown, NJ. He also attended Lincoln College in Pensylvania.

Following the death of his father, Bill took over the plantation and ran it successfully until his death.

Several managerial experts over the years assisted in this effort. Among them were Keith Jubah, who was unfortunately killed on the plantation on November 1, 2009; Edward Sangudi, a Tanzanian; Charles Bright, former Finance Minister, R.L.; and F.A. Dennis, former President, Liberia Bank for Development and Investment.

One of the great and unique developments on the plantation for which Bill will be remembered is that several years ago, for the first time in the history of the Liberian rubber sector, Morris American Rubber, by which Morris Farm became known, established its own factory to process its rubber. The company thus became the first and only rubber plantation that stopped selling its product to Firestone. The factory produced a product called TSR, meaning “technically specified rubber,” and sold it directly to world markets.

But due to the drastic fall in the world rubber price over the past six years, the factory was temporarily closed.

Mr. F.A. Dennis is, however, optimistic that the fatory would reopen, with the necessary funding of US$1 to US$2 million through bank loans and equity.

The reopening of the factory, Mr. Dennis stressed, would poitively impact the country’s foreign exchange situation as well as create more jobs on the plantation.

Bill Morris is survived by his Mother, Mrs. Wilma Holland Morris; two sons, William and Christopher, a daughter, Susan; two sisters, Mrs. Constance Morris Hope and Dr. Mrs. Judith Morris de Celis.

His sister, Judith remembers her brother Bill as “a kind, gentle, intelligent and hardworking man, who loved his country, family and friends. He was respected by many who always knew he was there for them.”

F.A. Dennis also remembers Bill Morris as “an employer who deeply cared about his workers. Whenever the rubber price suffered a slump, Bill would always say, ‘The children should not suffer. We must keep the schools and clinics open for their sake.’”

According to sister Judith, the body will be cremated, just as his father Harry’s was. A memorial service will be held in the States and another at a later date in Liberia, when the ashes of both father and son will be brought home for interment.