Funeral Services of Mr. & Mrs. Samuel K. DoeI write about the funerals of Liberian former President Samuel Doe and his wife, former First Lady Nancy Doe. The Liberian people buried them on June 26, 2025, in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County. It was a pleasure for me to have attended the event.
Doe was killed during the Liberian Civil War in 1990. His remains could not be found until recently. His wife, Nancy Doe, died on May 21, 2025. Before her death, she wished that she and her husband be buried together in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh, the county of their birth. This is a story of their homecoming and the homegoing. Two young lovers married and left their village for Monrovia, Liberia. Samuel, the husband, joined the military, and his wife, Nancy, became a market seller. April 12, 1980, changed their lives. The husband, a Master Sergeant, became head of state by the April 12, 1980, Revolution, which brought native Liberians to power. His wife became the mother of the nation. “It is finished”. So, they are returning home, where it all started. But they are going spiritually to say goodbye.
On June 24, 2025, the Government of Liberia held a state funeral for the deceased at the Centennial Pavilion in Monrovia. On the same day, the family drove the bodies to Grand Gedeh, where they first held a welcome program in Toe City. The event featured speeches by county officials and cultural dances. The float, which carried the coffins, proceeded to other major towns, where it briefly stopped, and the Grand Gedians welcomed home their favorite son and daughter. By late afternoon, the float reached Zwedru. The Grand Gedieans again lined up in the streets, receiving the float carrying the remains of their children. It stopped at the Albert White Stadium, where the people held the wake. The program included cultural and traditional performances. President Joseph Boakai had arrived in Zwedru for the wake and the funeral. Because of the long delay in the president’s arrival at the event, the MC, the Master’s of Ceremonies, dispersed the crowd and announced that they should return by 7:30 PM.
We left the stadium for the hotel to await the continuation of the wake. While we waited, we heard that the float with the coffins had been stolen, and the assumed thief was taking the bodies to Tuzon. This created a commotion, resulting in the blockage of the street leading to Tuzon. The youth of Zwedru resisted moving the float to Tuzon. The president, residing at the presidential house, then got concerned and spoke to Veronica Doe (Mamie Doe), President Doe’s oldest daughter, to find out the problem. Because he had ordered the bodies to be buried in Tuzon. Mamie told the president what was going on, that someone tried to take the bodies to Tuzon, and that the youths and other concerned people had resisted. Apparently, seeing the determination of the resistance, the president reversed the order. The commotion appeared to have resulted from a feud among the Doe family. Senator Zoe Pennue, a nephew of President Doe, is said to want the bodies to be buried in Tuzon, Doe’s birthplace. In contrast, most of Doe’s children want their parents to be buried in Doe’s compound in Zwedru.
However, the next day, June 26, the funeral was held in the Zwedru City Hall. Speakers included President Boakai, House Speaker Richard Koon, the Grand Gedeh Legislative Caucus, and the Doe children. The people eulogized former President Doe as a patriot, a developer, and a disciplinarian. They remembered Mrs. Doe for her humanitarianism, courage, and resilience. Meanwhile, most speakers thanked President Boakai for the decision to honor and rebury the remains of former presidents Tolbert and Doe. The president’s traveling to attend the funeral services was commendable.
After the funeral, the bodies were taken to the compound for burial. After the burial, the president drove to Tuzon, where he met with Pennue and Doe’s other children. Some analysts view this move politically, indicating that the president attempted to placate Pennue, a leading politician in Grand Gedeh. He was first a representative of the county. He lost the senatorial race in the 2014 election. However, he won the following senatorial election partly because of his association with former President George Weah and membership of the CDC party. His mother is Doe’s older sister, called Tdisho. This gives him an advantage in the county politics. Thus, apparently, he wants to control Doe’s wealth with his political power, age, and family lineage. Yet, he seems to forget that Doe’s children have grown and are educated. Mamie, Samuel Doe Jr, and the late Mrs. Doe viewed that he influenced President Weah not to give Mrs. Doe’s pension and her ECOWA monetary judgment. With Weah out of office, some observers see that Pennue is developing a relationship with President Boakai for self-interested gain. The children and their mother also perceived him as dividing Doe’s children and using spiritual power for control. According to critics, he implemented this divisive behavior when, early this year, he introduced Obediah Wrattoh, a Doe-alike son. In April 2025, he hosted the US Doe’s daughter, Celue Doe, parading her nationally and introducing her to President Boakai and other officials. Obediah and Celue followed Pennue to their expected funeral in Tuzon.
Nancy Doe suffered from prolonged sickness, hardship, disappointment, and frustration, leading to blindness. She returned from the UK in March this year. She died peacefully in her sleep in her Sinkor residence in Monrovia.
Former President Doe died about 35 years ago. His remains could not be located. It was assumed that Prince Johnson’s rebels destroyed his remains. Hence, people asked how sure they were that the remains in the casket were those of Doe. According to Apostle Prophet Amos Zor, the remains in the coffin are those of Doe. He indicated that they were discovered in 2020. But their location was a secret until the appropriate time. He maintained that upon Doe’s death, some Bassa people in Caldwell dug a hole and placed Doe’s body sitting. When Prince Johnson returned from Nigeria, he was shown a different body, which he destroyed. Nancy Doe’s death and wishes led him and others to unearth the remains. Other individuals confirmed Prophet Zor’s narrative.
It was a great pleasure for me to have attended the funeral events. As I have written, I knew President Doe and his wife, Nancy Doe. I met Doe in 1980, just after the coup. I also met him when he first visited the US. I saw him to be down-to-earth and concerned about the plight of the Liberian people. I knew his wife, Mrs. Doe, personally. We related well since I became the legal guardian of her children in the US. I admired her courage, outspokenness, resilience, stance for rights, and dislike of disadvantages.
My attendance at the Zwedru event allowed me to see the country firsthand. It was my first time traveling to Bong, Nimba, and Grand Gedeh. Liberia is a beautiful country. The road from Montserrado County to Grand Gedeh is good. Although parts of the Nimba road are unpaved, and all of the streets in Grand Gedeh are also unpaved, the rest of the road from Montserrado to Nimba is paved. It took us about 10 hours to travel from Monrovia to Toe City, Grand Gedeh. There are electrical poles along the roads. Grand Gedeh has 24/7 electricity, thanks to the circuit from Ivory Coast. However, Liberia remains underdeveloped. Over 70% of the country’s land is in Greenland. Most of the houses along the roads are mud structures.
Additionally, like in Monrovia, foreigners control the economy of the other counties. Moreover, the prices for goods in Bong, Nimba, and Grand Gedeh are higher than in Monrovia. For example, I spent 400LD on a bowl of jolly rice, compared to 250LD in Monrovia. Gasoline and fuel are also more expensive along the road than in Monrovia. Nevertheless, guest houses in these counties are Liberian-owned.
Although I went to Grand Gedeh for the funeral, I enjoyed the trip.
