Clarence A. Boonstra

Clarence A. Boonstra
US Ambassador to Costa Rica
In office
January 26, 1967 – August 11, 1969
PresidentLyndon B. Johnson
Preceded byRaymond Telles
Succeeded byWalter C. Ploeser

Clarence A. Boonstra (January 5, 1914 – March 20, 2006)[1][2] was the US Ambassador to Costa Rica from 1967 to 1969.[3] His tours of duty also covered Brazil, Mexico and Philippines.

He was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan.[1] Boonstra graduated with his bachelor's degree from Michigan State University. He received master's degree from Louisiana State University in economics in 1937 and in 1942 he earned a doctorate in agriculture economics. After entering the Foreign Service in 1946, he served as deputy chief of mission and chargé d'affaires in Mexico City. He served as political adviser to U.S. military forces with the Southern Command in Panama and also as director for South American affairs in the State Department.

During the rule of Juan Perón, he served in Argentina and in Cuba as guerrilla fighters under Fidel Castro that battled to overthrow the Batista government.[4]

From 1967 to 1969, he served as ambassador to Costa Rica.[5] He retired from the Foreign Service in 1974.

He died of pneumonia on March 20, 2006 at age 92 in Gainesville, Florida.[6]

  1. ^ a b Foreign Service Journal
  2. ^ Biographic Register
  3. ^ "The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project Agriculture Series AMBASSADOR CLARENCE A. BOONSTRA" (PDF). Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. 13 January 2006. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 June 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Obituaries". The Washington Post. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Clarence A. Boonstra - People - Department History - Office of the Historian". Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  6. ^ "Former U.S. Ambassador Dies at 92". The Tico Times. Retrieved 17 January 2015.