Ambassador Frank Crigler

1935 - 2021

Ambassador Frank Crigler
October 17, 1935 - May 16, 2021
Durham, North Carolina - U.S. Ambassador Trusten Frank Crigler died peacefully on May 16th, 2021 at the age of 85 of natural causes. He led a remarkable life of service to his country with two Ambassadorships and several posts as Chargé and Deputy Chief of Mission.
During his long career with the U.S. Foreign Service, Frank often faced situations that required considerable leadership and personal courage. He successfully led the evacuation and eventual rescue of hundreds of US citizens and expats at risk during the "mercenary" rebellion and civil war in eastern Congo in 1967, for which he received Congressional recognition. As Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé in Bogota, Columbia from 1979 to 1981, Crigler helped negotiate the release of US. Ambassador Diego Ascencio and 60 other diplomats held hostage by the M-19 guerrillas. As Ambassador to Rwanda from 1976 to 1979, he fought to head off the civil unrest that subsequently led to the genocide and tamp down the smoldering conflicts between the Rwandan government and American gorilla researcher Diane Fossey, with whom he and his wife Bettie became close friends. As Ambassador in Somalia from 1987 to 1990, he worked to avoid civil unrest that led to the disintegration of civil society, famine, and ill-fated U.S. intervention in 1992.
Frank was born in Phoenix, Arizona on October 17, 1935, to Robert and Elsie Crigler. He grew up in the Phoenix area, attended public schools and graduated from West Phoenix High School.
Frank married his high school sweetheart and classmate Bettie Ann Morris and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts where he majored in music at Harvard College, graduating magna cum laude in 1957.
In 1961 Frank joined the U.S. Foreign Service and moved his young family to northern Virginia for his assignment as an intelligence analyst in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the State Department.
Frank's first overseas assignment came in 1963 as a political officer in the US. consulate general at Guadalajara, Mexico. A year later, Frank became a consular officer in Mexico City .
Over the next 30 years Frank held progressively senior positions within the Foreign Service in Africa, Latin America and Washington DC, including Zaire (now The Democratic Republic of the Congo); Libreville, Gabon; Washington DC; and Mexico City. Frank was appointed Ambassador in Rwanda (1976-1979); deputy chief of mission and Chargé d'Affaires in Colombia (1979-1981); and Ambassador in Somalia (1987-1990).
Frank's Washington assignments included political advisor to the U. S. ambassador to the Organization of American States, American Political Science Fellow with the U. S. Congress, Director of Mexican Affairs in State (1981-1983), and senior Foreign Service Inspector, based in Washington (1983-1986).
After retiring from the Foreign Service in 1990, Frank held the Warburg Chair in International Relations at Simmons College in Boston and taught diplomacy (1993-1995). As a private consultant in foreign relations, he expressed his views on foreign policy issues frequently, especially with regard to Africa and Mexico, before the Congress, in the press, and on national television. In 1996, he and Bettie moved to Durham, North Carolina, and worked with Duke University as a fellow with the Center for International Development Research. He co-founded and published of American Diplomacy and was active in the Durham civic life.
Frank is survived by his children, Jeffrey, Lauren and Jeremy, grandchildren Robin, Amelia and Elizabeth and sister Alice Richards of Phoenix, AZ.
A Memorial service will be held at St. Philips Episcopal Church in Durham on June 26th at 11am