With great sadness, the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa announces the passing of Sam Brock, our Minister Counselor for Political Affairs, early in the morning on October 24, 2012, at the age of 60. A native of Radford, Virginia, Sam graduated cum laude from the Catholic University of America in 1974, including studies at the Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce, and obtained an M.A. degree with honors from Georgetown University in 1983. Prior to joining the Foreign Service he worked as a contract interpreter for the Department of State and as an administrator for the Government of Spain at the Spanish Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica. Sam joined the State Department in 1983 and served 29 years of distinguished service in Seoul, Praia, Algiers, Mexico City, Cotonou, Marseille, Kinshasa, and Ottawa, along with tours in Washington at the Organization of American States, as the the director of North American affairs at the National Security Council from 2002-03, four tours in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, including as interim director of the Office of UN Political Affairs and Director of the Office of UNESCO Affairs. Sam had recently been named ambassador to Eritrea and was awaiting Senate confirmation. An enthusiast of all kinds of music, Sam was a talented pianist and organist and performed at numerous concerts both in the United States and abroad. In 2007 he recorded a CD of Negro spirituals with Natalie Carter, a prominent Washington area contralto. A gifted linguist, he spoke Spanish, French and Portuguese fluently, and also conversed easily in Italian. He won numerous Department of State awards as well as the Ordre du Mérite from the French government and the Cruz de Caballero de la Orden de Isabel la Católica from the Spanish government. Sam was a devout Catholic and participated actively in church life, often playing the organ and piano at Mass, in parishes all over the world. He was also a member of the Agrupación Católica Universitaria. Sam will be greatly missed by family, friends, and colleagues, and remembered for his keen intelligence, gentlemanly demeanor, remarkable sense of humor, passion for music, devotion to his family, active Roman Catholic faith, and commitment to serving his country. Sam was preceded in death by his father, Bill Goodykoontz. He is survived by his wife, Odile; daughters Gabrielle, Charlotte, Sophie and Odette; grandchildren Zahraa, Gabriel, and Leila; his mother Mary Susan Goodykoontz; brothers Matthew Brock, Clement Brock and Bill Goodykoontz; and sister Mary Susanna Gilmore.