Former U.S. Ambassador Dies at 92

Clarence A. Boonstra, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica from 1967-1969, died of pneumonia March 20 at age 92 in Gainesville, Florida.

Boonstra was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1914; after graduating from Michigan State University with graduate degrees in economics and agricultural economics, and working for the U.S.

Department of State in Cuba, he became a Foreign Service Officer in 1946, according to information provided at his memorial service March 25 in Gainesville. His tours of duty took him to the Philippines, Mexico, Brazil and Costa Rica.

After retiring from the Foreign Service in 1974, he settled in Gainesville with his wife and young children. There, he worked for the Weyerhaeuser Company, an international forest products corporation, among other companies and public agencies.

He is survived by his wife Margaret, their four children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.