The board, management and staff of the V.I. Waste Management Authority are mourning the loss of Sonya D. Nelthropp, chief planning officer. Nelthropp, age 62, passed away on Tuesday, April 3, at her home on St. Thomas.
“Sonya was the pioneer and champion of the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority. Her tireless efforts gave birth to this agency and her continued support kept her dream alive. She will truly be missed but never forgotten throughout the halls of the VIWMA where her giant spirit will continue to move us forward to the prize,” said May Adams Cornwall, executive director of the VIWMA.
Governor John P. de Jongh said, “I was saddened at the news of Sonya’s death, and extend my condolences to her family on behalf of our community. Sonya was an exemplarypublic official committed to her home and utilizing her talents to serve her community. I will miss her presence at meetings, her jovial nature and her positive spirit. I join many in the Virgin Islands who today mourn her passing. She will be sorely missed.”
Sonya Nelthropp, was born in New York but made St. Thomas her home at the age of three years old when her parents, Earle Bromley Nelthropp and Ruby Deoneicia Tyson Neltropp, returned to St. Thomas. After furthering her education at the then College of the Virgin Islands and earning her master’s degree at Harvard University, Sonya worked with the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority for 13 years before again returning home to the Virgin Islands in 1999.
Because of her experience as biologist, educator, engineer and manager, Sonya was hired as a technical assistant to the commissioner in the Department of Public Works, charged with evaluating the status of the long standing issues with waste management in the territory. She worked with a small but very dedicated team to create an agency, VIWMA, that would provide quality wastewater and solid waste management services to the community as well as protect the environment and public health, and “preserve paradise.” She gave the authority the road map to follow to be successful, and she believed that the VIWMA could meet its mandate if we all continued to work together.
Sonya acknowledged this work as the most rewarding and satisfying endeavor of her professional career. She served as the authority’s interim executive director and then as the authority’s chief planning officer.
The VIWMA family will honor her memory by continuing our hard work and dedication to our communities, correcting the systems to eliminate administrative orders, and truly “preserving paradise.”
On behalf of the board, management and staff, our sincerest condolences are extended to the family, Sonya D. Nelthropp, a founding member of the VIWMA family.
For more information, contact the Office of Communications Management at 690-4218 or 712-4951.
