Falls Church resident Rayda Nadal, who lost her life while serving in the United States Foreign Service, will be honored at the Annual Memorial Ceremony at the U.S. State Department C Street lobby in Washington, D.C. this Friday, May 1, at 10:20 a.m. The ceremony is being organized by the American Foreign Service Association.

Nadal joined the Foreign Service in 2008 as an Office Management Specialist; she served in the economic, political, and commercial sections of the U.S. embassies in Kuwait City, Kabul, and Nassau. She additionally spent two years as an Office Management Specialist for Ambassador Capricia Marshall at the Office of Protocol in Washington, D.C. In 2013, she accepted the post of Office Management Specialist with the Office of Engineering Services at Embassy Moscow.

She died from injuries sustained in an explosion in her Moscow apartment in May 2014. Described by friends and colleagues as ‘a ray of sunshine,’ she was an excellent cook, avid reader and writer, and had a quick wit and a ready smile. She lived what friends and colleagues called the ‘ideal Foreign Service experience.’

Nadal’s name will be inscribed on the memorial wall next to the names of 245 individuals who have been recognized for making the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy will speak and American Foreign Service Association President Robert J. Silverman will preside over the ceremony.