Private funeral services will be conducted tomorrow morning at the Belgian Embassy here for Paul May, Belgian Ambassador who died Monday night. His death followed an operation for gallstones. He was sixty-two years old.
Mme. May, the deceased’s wife, the immediate members of the family and embassy officials will attend the private services. From 2 to 4 P.M. the body will lie in state and will then be taken, with a military escort, to the National Cemetery at Arlington. There it will be placed in a vault to await an official funeral service, which will be attended by the entire diplomatic corps and many American dignitaries.
Next week, in accordance with international courtesy, the Ambassador’s body will be borne to Belgium on a United States cruiser, the State Department announced. The warship has not yet been designated, but it is understood that one of the new 10,000-ton cruisers will be used.
President Roosevelt learned of the Belgian ambassador’s death while on his way from Hawaii to Portland, Oregon. He sent a message from the cruiser Houston to Secretary Hull asking that his condolences be sent to Mme. May and others of the Ambassador’s family. Mr. Roosevelt added that he held the Ambassador in high esteem and was shocked at the sad news.
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