ANGELA Missouri Sherman-Peter - who held a series of senior diplomatic and public service roles, has died.

Tributes were paid to the diplomat, more often known by the name Missouri, who was a pioneer in many areas. 

In a statement on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: "We are deeply saddened by the death of Her Excellency Angela Missouri Sherman Peter, ODC, today in New York City, surrounded by her loved ones."

During her career, she served as Consul General at New York; Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations; High Commissioner to Canada and Non- Resident High Commissioner to Zimbabwe; and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Special Envoy.                       

At the Commonwealth Secretariat, she served as Assistant Director, Political Affairs Division from 1994 to 1997.

At the United Nations, she served as Chef de Cabinet for the President of the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly from 2003-2004.

She also held positions in the public service, including Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Office of the Attorney General, and Ministry of National Security.

Her last position before retirement was that of Ambassador and Permanent Observer for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to the United Nations.

In 2024, she was awarded the Order of Distinction in the Independence honours. 

In 2013, when she was the recipient of the US Embassy's International Women of Courage Award, she talked of how her drive to help women "hold up half the sky and carry the weight of the world" was the harvest of a seed planted in her life by her mother, Effie LaFleur Sherman. Missouri had 15 siblings. 

She said at the time: "The one lesson that is pivotal to me is that you will not always experience the world at its best; but if you do your best, and dedicate yourself to making a difference in the lives of others, you will, in my mother's words, make your life count."

In 2021, she told The Tribune how she never saw a stove in her parents' house until she was a teenager. She told how her and her sisters would go to collect firewood for their outdoor kitchen, toting it on their heads ina. fashion she says led to their excellent posture. 

She said: "We lived a very difficult life. Everything was handed down from one child to the next - all of our clothers, shoes (and other children at school would tease us for it). Everything was handed down except the brain - you had to have one of your own."

She said of her work: “You are doing your work for the good of the entire world, but always with your own country in mind. In multilateral relations, we are working for the betterment of people and countries across the globe. In bilateral relations, you are working on the relations between another country and your own. So, the work of diplomacy is for your country and the world.”