The Honorable O. Rudolph Aggrey

AGGREY The Honorable O. Rudolph Aggrey (Age 89) Former United States Ambassador to Gambia, Senegal and Romania died Wednesday, April 6, 2016. Orison Rudolph Aggrey was born on July 24, 1926 in Salisbury, North Carolina. He earned a Bachelors degree from Hampton Institute, where he was valedictorian in 1946, and an Masters degree in journalism from Syracuse University in 1948. He worked as a journalist for a few years until he was accepted into the Foreign Service in 1951, which took him all over the world. On November 5, 1966 he married the love of his life Fran��oise Christiane Fratacci, with whom he was married to until his death. He took a year of leave from the Foreign Service to become a Fellow at The Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. Upon his return to Foreign Service he became chief of the French branch of Voices of America. In 1972, President Richard Nixon appointed him Ambassador to Gambia and Senegal where he served from1973 to 1977. He was the only ambassador at the time with familial attachments to the continent and then in 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed him Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Romania where he served until his retirement in 1981. After retiring from the State Department, Ambassador Aggrey worked at several universities including Georgetown University and Howard University. He remained active in his community with groups like the Sigma Pi Phi, Alpha Phi Alpha, the Federal City Club and the Association of Black American Ambassadors. Rudolph had a passion for music especially jazz and loved learning about different people and their cultures. He was a student of history until the end of his life. He leaves to cherish his memory his beloved wife, Fran��oise Christiane; devoted daughter, Roxane Rose, daughter-in-law Téaura T. Rollock and numerous relatives and friends. The family will receive friends from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at Everly-Wheatley Funeral Home, 1500 W. Braddock Rd., Alexandria, VA where a funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday. Interment will follow in Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C. A guest registry may be found at: www.everlywheatley.com