Ambassador Banny deBrum died Thursday in Honolulu at age 54 after an extended illness.
“Ambassador deBrum was one of the Republic of the Marshall Islands’ most dedicated public servants,” said Foreign Minister John Silk Friday. “He was one of a kind, a true statesman, and that makes his passing all the more painful.”
DeBrum graduated from Jesuit-run Regis University in Colorado in 1981 and joined the diplomatic corps of the Marshall Islands shortly after it achieved independence in 1986.
Except for a two-year period in 2008-09, he was the Marshall Islands ambassador in Washington, the Marshall Islands’ most important diplomatic partner.
Silk said deBrum was actively involved in renegotiation of a Compact of Free Association with the U.S. in the early 2000s that led to a 20-year aid package worth more than $1 billion.
Silk said the family expects to fly deBrum’s remains from Hawaii to the Marshall Islands for funeral services.
DeBrum is survived by his wife Honor deBrum, four children and five grandchildren.
