The life journey of the late Dr. Sarr Abdulai Vandi, a telecommunications luminary ended on March 20, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. On August 07, 2024, he was interred at the Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, New York.
Sarr Abdulai Vandi was born on November 9, 1951, in Kakata, Liberia, to the late Abdallah and Adama (Sirleaf) Vandi. Abdulai was the 1st child. In his quest for knowledge, the young Vandi moved to Monrovia and lived in Bassa Community where he enrolled at the Bassa Community Elementary and Junior High School in the early 60s. Upon completing junior high school, he matriculated to the then Laboratory High School where he graduated, which subsequently became the William V. S. Tubman High School.
Given his keen interest in acquiring higher education upon graduation in 1965, he enrolled at the Mass Communications Department of the University of Liberia, while at the same time working with the Liberian National Police initially as a Patrol Officer and later in 1967, he was transferred to its Criminal Investigation Division (CID) as a Criminal Investigator in the Burglary Division. He served with distinction up to his departure to the United States of America, where he attended colleges. With steadfast commitment to acquiring a prestigious scholarship in academia, at 25 years old, he received his PhD in the Telex Communication Department from The University of Buffalo (UB) in 1976.
A quintessential scholar, his concerns, interests, and priorities were broadly interdisciplinary. Abdulai wrote numerous articles, and a book: A Model of Mass Communications and National Development: A Liberian Perspective. He was an ITU Senior Expert, IBB Senior Fellow & Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of International Affairs at the University of Liberia; Infocoms Analyst, and Telecoms Regulator. Dr, Vandi was a lexiphile and had a God-given gift; which was a photographic memory that amazed many. Abdulai’s passions were his country and position in life; fashion flare, music, and dancing; reading, discussing politics, particularly issues relating to his beloved Liberia, and of course, jewelries, and African cuisines.
On November 25, 1975, Abdulai married Elaine Moore in Buffalo, New York.
They met at Buffalo State College, where he was an African American Studies instructor. In 1977, the couple moved to Arlington, Virginia near Washington, DC., where Abdulai was offered a professorship position at Howard University. He was the “first indigene Liberian, to serve as a Howard University Faculty Professor at the School of Communications, Washington D.C., 1977-1981 & 1994-1997, respectively.” In 1981, the couple was blessed with a son, and within months, Abdulai took a position as Minister of Post and Telecommunications in his homeland, Liberia, departing from his wife and son.
Abdulai leaves to cherish his memory: his former wife, Mrs. Elaine Vandi-Kirkland and their son, Asa R. Vandi, Sr., and grandchildren: Alia, Asa Jr., and Ayana Vandi; Ms. Decontee Bessay, mother of his daughters: Yogi Siah Vandi and Yassah Kumba Vandi, who are currently in Monrovia; his siblings, relatives, friends, compatriots, and kinsmen.
As the children bid their father farewell, it is important to thank His Excellency Joseph Nyumah Boakai, President of the Republic of Liberia, for his benevolence and stewardship to the family by honoring to lift the funeral burden off the family. And the children are very thankful to His Excellency for exemplifying fatherly love to our family and for his generous token of support. We are most grateful to the Almighty God for moving the heart of the Liberian leader to assist us during this mournful period. And we also thank other members of the family, our friends, and associates for their expression of condolences and love shown to us during this mournful period. We long for the time when Isaiah 33:24 will be fulfilled, “And no inhabitant will say, ‘I am sick’; but the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity”.
May the soul of Dr. S. Abdulai Vandi, as he was affectionately known, rest in blissful peace.
Contacts:
Ms. Decontee Bessay: (231) 886939471
Miss Yogi Siah Vandi: (231) 881826011
Miss Yassah Kumba Vandi: (231) 881176462
This tribute is made by Mrs. Elaine Vandi-Kirkland.
