It
is with deep regret that the Staff Association of the OAS informs you of the death of long time staff member, Dr. Jose Luis
Restrepo Velez. He joined the OAS in September of 1962 and retired on December
31, 1995 but continued to advise the Secretary General and Senior Officials of the OAS Secretariat until December 31, 1998. For 35
years Dr. Restrepo served the OAS in various senior level capacities, including Advisor to three Secretaries General.
Jose
Luis Restrepo, who was born in Medellín, Colombia,
completed his studies in law at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in 1953. That
same year he entered the Wharton School
at the University of Pennsylvania
where he graduated “with distinction” with a Masters in Business
Administration. Upon graduation he returned to Colombia to work for his family’s firm.
In 1956 he accepted the position of Professor of Economics at the Universidad Bolivariana and Professor of Economic
Analysis at the Universidad de Medellin where he continued until 1960. In
addition to serving as a professor at the Universidad de Medellin he organized the Faculty of Public Administration and became
the Acting Provost until a permanent Rector was named.
In
1960 he was named the Director of City Planning for the city of Medellin and in 1961 he became
the National Budget Director for Colombia
and remained in that position until 1962 when he accepted a position in the Pan American Union as an Economic Advisor to the
Committee of Nine of the Alliance for Progress. Subsequently he became Assistant
Division Chief and Acting Chief for the Country Review Program of the Department of Economic Affairs. In 1976 he was named Director of the Program, where he remained until 1981, when he was named Technical
Advisor to the Secretary General. He subsequently served as Chief of Staff to Secretary General Orfila and as a Technical
Advisor to two subsequent Secretaries General until December 1998.
Dr.
Restrepo was a prolific writer in the fields of Economics, Development, Political and Social Affairs, Latin American Affairs
and related fields beginning with his graduate thesis. He wrote weekly articles
for Medellin’s El Mundo newspaper and most recently
for MiColumna.com. He volunteered for countless charitable organizations, including
the Spanish Catholic Center in Washington, DC. After becoming a U.S. citizen he
proudly volunteered for the campaign of Tim Kaine for Governor of the Commonwealth
of Virginia.
Dr. Restrepo is survived by his wife Maria Rosario Restrepo,
his children Luis Felipe Restrepo, Patricia Restrepo Loria, Nicolas Cipriano Restrepo, David Restrepo, Daniel Alberto Restrepo,
his son-in-law Jack Loria, his daughters-in-law Marie Sullivan Restrepo, Catherine
Maier Restrepo, and Katherine Tromble, and his 20 grandchildren.
A funeral mass will be celebrated at St. Luke’s Catholic Church, 7001 Georgetown Pike, McLean, VA 22101-2150 at 10:00 am on Wednesday, February 1, 2006.
Friends and relatives will be received by the family in the reception area of the church immediately preceding the
Mass. The mass will be followed by internment at the Fairfax Memorial Park, The Garden of the Blessed Virgin, 9900 Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. Details and directions to the Church and to Fairfax
Memorial Park can be found on the website presented below.
Expressions of Condolences
can be entered in the below cited web site or they can be sent to Mrs. Maria R. Restrepo,
6748 Towne Lane Road, McLean, Virginia 22101.
The Restrepo Family respectfully requests that in lieu of flowers or
food, if you would like, please make a donation to the "The Spanish Catholic Center, Inc. for Health and Mental Health Services
in the District of Columbia." This is a center with
which Jose Luis was associated in volunteer service after retirement from the OAS. Specific
information on the Center is:
The Spanish Catholic Center, Inc.
Attention: Sister Janice Heisy
1618 Monroe Street, NW
Washington, DC
20010
For
more information on any of the above, please contact the following web site.
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1zikz/joseluisrestrepo/
