Family, friends and colleagues will be gathering this Saturday, May 7th, for a Thanksgiving Service in memory of former Ambassador Glaister G. Duncan. The Former head of the Local Government, Civil Service, and the Foreign Service, passed on Thursday, April 14, 2016. He was 86 years old.
Duncan entered public office in 1973, when he was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, to be followed in 1978 as Permanent Secretary in Ministry of the Public Service and Head of the Civil Service. That year he was awarded the Commander of the Order of Distinction (CD) for having rendered outstanding and important services to Jamaica.
In 1982, he was appointed by Hon. Edward Seaga as Jamaica’s Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Israel, and the Vatican 1982. Duncan was instrumental in arranging the historic visit of Pope John Paul II to Jamaica in 1992.
Ambassador Duncan opened new avenues and opportunities for Jamaica, especially with Germany, and in 1987 he was appointed Ambassador to the USSR, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia. He returned home in 1989 to become Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade, until his retirement from public life in 1992 as Head of the Foreign Service. He and his wife Claire remained active in several business and charitable organizations, including the Kiwanis, JDF Officers, Police Officers, and Ex-Service Officers clubs.
The service will be held starting 10 a.m. at the Saxthorpe Methodist Church in Kingston, Jamaica
