Former U.S. ambassador and Portsmouth native Bismarck Myrick dies at 83

Bismarck Myrick, a former U.S. ambassador, decorated Vietnam War hero and Portsmouth native, died Sunday. He was 83.

Myrick served as ambassador to two African countries: Lesotho from 1995 to 1998, and Liberia from 1999 to 2002. He was appointed to both positions by President Bill Clinton, but remained on in Liberia after President George W. Bush took office in 2001.

Myrick graduated at the top of his class at I.C. Norcom High School in 1959. Afterward, he enlisted in the Army. He worked his way up the ranks during two decades of service, which included time in Okinawa, Germany and South Korea.

Myrick fought in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969 and received the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals for heroism in combat, two Bronze Star Medals for meritorious service in a combat zone and a Purple Heart.

He joined the Senior Foreign Service in 1980. He was serving as a diplomat in South Africa in 1990 when Nelson Mandela was released from prison, and when Mandela became president of South Africa in 1994.

Myrick and his wife Marie-Pierre Mbaye-Myrick hosted a free Thanksgiving Day celebration in Portsmouth for many years. It started at former public housing complex Jeffry Wilson, where Myrick lived during much of high school, and was designed “for people who ordinarily might not have had opportunity to celebrate a traditional Thanksgiving meal with family and friends in a non-threatening environment,” Myrick told The Pilot in a July 2019 interview .

He hosted similar celebrations during his time in South Africa and Liberia. In South Africa, the event sought to bring people together who might otherwise not have met due to apartheid. In Liberia, it catered to around 400 young people who came from environments of violence, extreme poverty and disease.

Myrick returned to Hampton Roads after his many years of government service, and settled in Chesapeake. But his ties to Portsmouth, which has two streets named after him, always remained strong.

A celebration of life for Myrick will be held at 11 a.m. Oct. 12 at Third Baptist Church in Portsmouth. Burial will be later at Arlington National Cemetery.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com