Cllr. Seward Montgomery Cooper
It is said that politics follow power. And because Greg was placed in positions of power, politics followed him. But he was equipped. He had read widely and understood the dynamics of the world. He had studied Scripture and knew Rudyard Kipling’s signature poem IF.
By Seward Montgomery Cooper, contributing writer
So, he could “keep his head when all around him were losing theirs and blaming it on him “; and when he was doubted “he made allowance for the doubting too”; and when being lied about he would not deal in lies; yet he tried to not “look too good or talk too wise”.
He could “talk with crowds and keep his virtue”. Greg walked with Heads of States and prime ministers; and served presidents but did not lose the common touch. I submit that these characteristics propelled Greg to some of the highest offices our Nation dares entrust to anyone. Greg’s leadership skills, self-discipline, and keen intellect were evident from the time we met as boys at the Methodist Elementary School in Sinkor, and throughout secondary school at the College of West Africa.
Mrs. Cleopatra Grigsby, widow of the late Amb. Sylvester M. Grigsby, Minister of State for Presidential Affairs
In 1969 by popular vote of the entire student body of CWA, Greg was elected President of the Student Council. It was my privilege to succeed him the following year. Although he studied chemistry at Cuttington, during the mid 1970s the sharp eyes of Foreign Minister Cecil Dennis and his Special Assistant Gerald Padmore spotted him; identified his talent, and Greg was pulled into the world of diplomacy – where he was born to be.
Greg and I worked closely together in adjacent offices when he served as the Minister of State without Portfolio and I as the Legal Advisor to the President during the Sirleaf Administration. Bobbin McClain (Dr Edward B. McClain jr.) died in 2016, and President Sirleaf made the wise decision to appoint Greg as Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and her Chief of Staff.
Widow and daughters of the late Amb. Grigsby
Our amicable relationship continued. The admiration we had for each other was mutual. There we were two friends from adolescence and school mates, now professionals, serving our beloved Nation as faithfully as we could. It was no surprise that President Boakai, another secondary school mate, upon becoming Liberia’s President last year selected Greg to be his Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and his Chief of Staff. He trusted Greg. He knew Greg’s equable disposition. He knew Greg’s substance and his character.
Amb. Grigsby’s classmate from the College of West Africa.
To his widow Cleo and Greg’s children, my wife Anne, our children and I sympathize with you on this painful, mournful loss. It is said what we do here echoes through eternity and those whom we love live forever 2 inside us even when they have departed.
Having experienced deaths of loved ones, we agree entirely with the theologian who wrote that “love is more powerful than death. “For indeed Love endures even after loved ones die. In the book of Wisdom is written “the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. [2]
In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die, and their departure is taken for misery, [3] And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace. “So, love and respect for Greg remain forever stamped within our hearts. We pray his soul rests in peace with the Lord God Almighty who found Greg worthy and called him home. Amen.
