The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has described the late Deputy Consul General at the Consulate of Liberia in New York, Mrs. Clara Klaneh Wesley Bruce, as a “good friend, dedicate employee, very energetic and free-spirited.”

According to a Foreign Ministry release, the ministry’s tribute was paid at the funeral service of the late Mrs. Bruce at the Empowerment Temple AME Church in Oldest Congo Town on Saturday, October 21, 2017. Mrs. Bruce passed away at the Highland Hospital in Rochester, New York, United States of America on September 22, 2017.

Reading the tribute on behalf of Foreign Ministry family, Mr. Mohammed Kenneth, himself a career diplomat, showered the decease with praises and described Mrs. Bruce as a dedicated career diplomat, who during her lifetime at the ministry, made enormous contributions to her country and the wellbeing of her family members, friends, colleagues and associates.

“Klaneh was a good woman, a good friend and a dedicated employee. She was also a very energetic and a free-spirited person who always referred to another female colleague as “my girl”. She was always impeccably dressed; always showed love and respect for others and was always ready to assist the needy,” he recounted.

Reflecting on Mrs. Bruce’s journey at the Ministry, Mr. Kenneth indicated that she began her career as a cadet in 1979 and remained in the employ of the Ministry all of her professional life.

While at the Foreign Ministry, Mrs. Bruce took advantage of several diplomatic training courses at various levels. She studied at the Institute of Diplomacy and International Relations, in Islamabad, Pakistan, where she received a Post-Graduate Degree in Diplomacy and later acquired advanced diplomatic training in International Relations at the University of Nairobi, Kenya in 1984. Following this training, she returned home and continued working as senior desk officer assigned in the Bureau of Afro-Asian Affairs.

Mr. Kenneth further noted that the late Mrs. Bruce was very passionate about her job, as well as her family; describing her as a dedicated employee and family person. “At times, she would take excuse to rush home to prepare food for her husband and children,” he said, adding that she often told her colleagues in Bureau that besides her work, she needed to pay more time to her family; therefore, whenever the need arises she should be allowed to leave and go home to prepare food for her family.”

He also added that the late Mrs. Bruce continued her dedication to duty, even after she took assignment as First Secretary and Consul at the Liberia’s Embassy in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), following the resumption of diplomatic ties in 2003.

He disclosed that while in PRC, the late diplomat worked assiduously with the Charges d’Affaires to set up the Consular Section of at the Liberian Embassy issuing consular cards to hundreds of Liberian citizens who regularly converged on the compound of the Embassy from various cities there.

Mr. Kenneth noted that due to her hard work, dedication to duty and passion for diplomacy, Mrs. Bruce was recalled from the PRC and subsequently reassigned at the Liberia’s Embassy in the State of Kuwait as Counselor where she served with commitment distinguishing herself as a career diplomat, before she fell ill and unable to perform her duties effectively.

Mr. Kenneth stressed that the late Mrs. Bruce will be dearly missed by the entire family of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for her commitment and dedication to duty. “We would like to say to her family that they have lost a beautiful person and the ministry has lost a dedicated career diplomat.”

The late Mrs. Bruce, a diplomat, devoted Christian, and a committed public servant was interred at the Kaiser Memorial Cemetery in Brewerville, outside Monrovia.