 1927 - 2013 (86 years)
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| Name |
Edmondson, William Brockway |
| Title |
Ambassador |
| Born |
6 Feb 1927 |
Saint Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri, USA  [2, 3] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Died |
5 Dec 2013 |
Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona, USA [3, 4] |
| Person ID |
I25547 |
Sackett | Descendants of Capt. Richard Sackett |
| Last Modified |
6 Jul 2019 |
| Father |
Edmondson, Harold O., b. 21 Dec 1898, St. Edward, Boone County, Nebraska, USA , d. 27 Apr 1978, Peru, Nemaha, Nebraska, USA (Age 79 years) |
| Mother |
Sherman, Anna Laura, b. 17 Jun 1898, Wymore, Gage, Nebraska, USA , d. 24 Oct 1994, Alexandria, Fairfax County, Virginia, USA (Age 96 years) |
| Children |
| | 1. Edmondson, Ambassador William Brockway, b. 6 Feb 1927, Saint Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri, USA , d. 5 Dec 2013, Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona, USA (Age 86 years) |
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| Family ID |
F9224 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Event Map |
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 | Born - 6 Feb 1927 - Saint Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri, USA |
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 | Died - 5 Dec 2013 - Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona, USA |
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| Pin Legend |
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| Notes |
- Ambassador William Brockway Edmonson (1927-2013): Descendant of Capt. Richard Sackett. An American diplomat in the United States Foreign Service, who served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to the Republic of South Africa from 1978-1981. He was appointed by President Jimmy Carter.
Source Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_B._Edmondson
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| Sources |
- [S468] Alexis Carena.
- [S1199] Virginia, Marriage Records, 1936-2014, (Ancestry.com) (Reliability: 3), 5 Jul 2019.
Name: Barbara Elizabeth Edmondson
Gender: Female
Race: White
Age: 23
Birth Date: 11 Mar 1954
Marriage Registration Place: Arlington, Virginia, USA
Marriage Date: 1 Oct 1977
Marriage Place: Arlington, Virginia, USA
Father: William B Edmondson
Mother: Donna E Kiechel
Spouse: Richard Craig Schneider
Name: Richard Craig Schneider
Gender: Male
Race: White
Age: 30
Birth Date: 21 Nov 1946
Marriage Registration Place: Arlington, Virginia, USA
Marriage Date: 1 Oct 1977
Marriage Place: Arlington, Virginia, USA
Father: Robert Carl Schneider
Mother: Kathleen V Fuehrer
Spouse: Barbara Elizabeth Edmondson
Researched by Ted Smith
- [S1892] Washington Post, (Washington Post) (Reliability: 3), 6 Jul 2019.
William B. Edmondson, ambassador
By ? Bart Barnes
December 28, 2013
William B. Edmondson, the U.S. ambassador to South Africa during a period of high tension between the white-minority South African government and the United States, died Dec. 5 at a medical center in Prescott, Ariz. He was 86.
The cause was cardiac arrest, said his son, Paul Edmondson.
A career Foreign Service officer, Mr. Edmondson served as ambassador to South Africa from 1978 to 1981, a time of unrest and upheaval after a black uprising in Soweto and the 1977 death of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko while in police custody.
As the U.S. ambassador, Mr. Edmondson delivered the Carter administration?s message of condemnation of apartheid. He reinforced U.S. support for civil rights and reforms that would lead to majority rule by black South Africans.
William Brockway Edmondson was born in St. Joseph, Mo. He served in the Army during World War II. He was a 1950 graduate of the University of Nebraska, and he received a master?s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., in 1951.
He began his Foreign Service career in 1951 and had early assignments in Africa and Switzerland. He was deputy assistant secretary for African affairs in Washington before his appointment as ambassador to South Africa. He retired in 1986 after serving as a senior inspector and then deputy inspector general of the State Department.
In retirement, Mr. Edmondson was president of DACOR (Diplomatic and Consular Officers Retired) and was a volunteer guide at the Library of Congress.
In 2008, he moved from Arlington County to Arizona.
Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Donna Kiechel Edmondson of Prescott; two children, Barbara Schneider of Prescott and Paul Edmondson of Washington; and four grandchildren.
Researched by Ted Smith
- [S1018] Obituary (Reliability: 3), 6 Jul 2019.
The Daily Courier (Prescott, Arizona), 4 Feb 2016
http://dcourier.com/Main.asp?SectionID=167&SubSectionID=468&ArticleID=126244
Obituary: William B. Edmondson
Mr. Edmondson
Mr. Edmondson
William B. Edmondson, 86, a retired Foreign Service Officer and former U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, died on Dec. 5, 2013 in Prescott, Ariz.
Mr. Edmondson was born in St. Joseph, Mo. in 1927, but spent his formative years in Nebraska. He joined the army upon graduation from high school in 1944, and served for three years, reaching the rank of First Lieutenant. After leaving the army, he attended the University of Nebraska where he graduated with high distinction and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1951, he earned a master's degree in international affairs at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston, and later that same year was married to the former Donna Kiechel, whom he had met at the University of Nebraska.
Mr. Edmondson joined the Foreign Service in 1952, and in 1953 left for his first overseas assignment as Vice Consul in Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika (now Tanzania). In 1955 he was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, for two years. He then returned to the States where he took African area studies at Northwestern University. Afterward he served in Embassies in Ghana, Zambia, and South Africa as well as various offices within the Department of State in Washington.
In 1978, President Carter appointed Mr. Edmondson as Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa. His South African assignment came at a time of major political and social upheaval in that country, and tensions between the South African government and the Carter Administration were high, given the U.S. government's condemnation of South Africa's apartheid laws and its support for civil rights and democratic reform. Despite these challenging circumstances, Mr. Edmondson actively and effectively represented American interests and established strong relationships with many South Africans, of all races and political per-suasions.
After returning from South Africa in 1981, Mr. Edmondson was assigned to the Inspector General's office in the State Department, eventually serving as Deputy Inspector General. Upon retirement in 1986, he received
the Wilbur J. Carr award (the Secretary of State's career service award), part of whose inscription reads as follows:
"... you have provided a model of dedication to duty, of careful, sure judgment, of ready acceptance of responsibility, and of personal and ethical involvement in public decisions. You have influenced American policy toward southern Africa and you have earned the respect and admiration of your colleagues in
the Foreign Service of the United States."
After retirement, Mr. Edmondson was president of Diplomatic & Consular Officers, Re-tired (DACOR), an association of foreign affairs professionals. He later served as a volunteer for 10 years at the Library of Congress in Washington. In 2008, he and his wife moved from their home in Arlington, Va., to Prescott, Ariz.
Mr. Edmondson is survived by his wife of 62 years, Donna Edmondson of Prescott; his daughter, Barbara Schneider and her husband, Richard of Prescott; his son Paul Edmondson and his wife, Susan of Washington, D.C.; and four grandchildren, Aaron Schneider (Vanessa), Katie Schneider, and Michael and Masha Edmondson.
Information provided by survivors.
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