Author Archive | Ven Suresh

Robert W. Smail, 88, died at his home in Manhattan, KS on February 15, 2015. Bob was born in Aberdeen, SD to Leola (LaSalle) and William C. Smail. He attended local schools, graduating from Aberdeen’s Central High School in 1945. In high school, he played the tuba and sousaphone in the band and was on the football and basketball teams. He joined the army on VE day, before his high school graduation (an American flag was placed on his empty chair), and he served for two years, mostly in Germany. After discharge he returned to Aberdeen and graduated from Northern State Teachers College (now Northern State University) in 1950. Later Bob would continue his education at the University of South Dakota (Vermillion), receiving a master’s degree in education in 1952 and a Doctor 0f Education degree in 1959, the first doctoral degree awarded by the University. Dr. Smail was selected to be the USAID fellow at the Center of International Affairs, Harvard University in 1971-72.

Bob’s entire career was in the field of education and human resources, beginning with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Cheyenne River Reservation, SD, where he taught grades K-6 for 4 years at Iron Lighting Day School , a one-room school house. After earning his doctoral degree, he went to Clarion State College in Pennsylvania as Professor of Education and Director of the Laboratory School from 1959-1962.

In 1962 he joined the US Agency for International Development. With USAID, he managed and supervised contractual groups for all phases of education development and training programs in fields such as irrigation and agricultural development and public administration programs in seven countries. His first assignment was as Teacher Education Advisor in Cambodia from 1962 to 1964 where he developed the education program and physical specifications for a new teacher training college to be built at Siem Reap. Between 1964 and 1970, he worked closely with the governments of the Philippines, Mali, Liberia and Nigeria supervising USAID contractors in the fields of education, university development, public administration, and various agricultural and irrigation programs.

Following assignment in Washington D.C. where he was responsible for policy and programs for Human Resources Development in the African Region and following his time as a Fellow at Harvard, he served in Nepal (1972-73) where he supervised various development programs at Tribhuvan University and the establishment of a management program for the Office of the Prime minister. From Nepal, he went to Bangkok as Chief of Human Resources Development. In the Southeast Asian Regional Economic Development Office, he served as consultant to SEAMEO and was involved in several programs, including public administration and agricultural development projects in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.

Returning to Washington, DC in 1978, he was Chief of the Office of Human Resources for the Latin American Bureau, overseeing program policy development in twenty countries in Latin America and the Caribbean until his retirement in 1980.

Following retirement, he consulted extensively on USAID and foreign development projects in several countries, including Indonesia, Grenada, Thailand, Pakistan, Egypt, and Jordan. He also had short-term assignments including Education Officer for the Cuban-Haitian Boat Lift project at Ft. McCoy, WI and the worldwide evaluation of the World Scouting Movement. Dr. Smail’s strengths were in the areas of being able to see the “big picture” of a project’s development, identifying the key players, and devising appropriate training paths that would produce results. He worked well with both local and expatriate personnel. Mrs. Smail and their children accompanied him on his assignments.

Bob and wife Lois moved to Manhattan, KS in 1996 to be near their son’s family. They enjoyed many years of their grandchildren’s elementary, middle school, and high school activities. Bob was active in community services, including Bread Basket, Red Cross, Kiwanis, the Men’s Garden Club, and the Senior Center. He particularly enjoyed working with the Library of Congress Veterans’ Oral History Project. He was a voracious reader, an avid golfer, a gentle man, and a gentleman.

He is survived by his wife of over 66 years, Lois; two children, Robin Dietrich (married to Richard Dietrich, D.Min., Ph.D.) of Staunton, VA and Virgil Smail,Ph.D. (married to Nan) of Manhattan, KS; four grandchildren, Christopher Dietrich, Ph.D. (married to Veronica) and Nathanael Dietrich, and Robert Smail and Tyler Smail (married to Vera); and three great grandchildren.*

Herman “Hy” Nissenbaum (87) was born in New York City to Paula Paschkar and Jacob Nissenbaum, and lived in Brooklyn until 1944. Hy served in the United States Army from 1944 to 1945. He attended Syracuse University and the University of Michigan, moving to Washington, DC in 1952.

His public career spanned over five decades, starting at the Pentagon and the Agency for International Development, and including 37 years at the World Bank. He retired in 2004, and in 2012 moved from his Rockville home of nearly 45 years to Ingleside at King Farm. He died from complications of pneumonia.

He is survived by his wife, Claire; daughter, Ellen (Jeffrey); sons, Daniel (Penelope) and John (Gabriella); grandchildren, Nora, Meredith, Gabriel, Gillian and Joshua; his sister, Rachel; three nieces, Gloria (Alan), Barbara (Ira) and Belinda (Steve); and cherished family friend, Staci Houser.

Tim Seims, who joined the Family Planning Services Division of the USAID Office of Population in 1980, died on March 31, 2015, in a hospice near his home in West Virginia. The cause of death was congestive heart failure. Tim served as Population Officer in USAID/Cairo and in Bolivia. He is survived by his son, Joshua Seims, and two granddaughters, Zoe and Sophia.

Lucy Ruth Leidy, beloved Sister of Ruth Mielke of Fanwood New Jersey, and Mildred Ho of Honolulu, Hawaii, passed on to be with Our Lord on Monday morning, February 16, 2015, at 4:18 A.M., after a long hospital stay.

Lucy was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on August 28, 1919, and was a long — time resident of Cranford, New Jersey before moving to Holiday, Florida, and later, Inverness, Florida.

Lucy worked overseas in Korea, Egypt, Turkey, and Pakistan for the United States Department of State, Agency for International Development ( USAID), from which she retired as an Executive Secretary.

Lucy loved traveling throughout countries in the Middle East and Far East. She also loved to travel, on occasion, to Las Vegas, Nevada. Lucy also enjoyed swimming and relaxing in the Gulf of Mexico on Fort Myers Beach, Florida.

Lucy also loved playing bingo and was a frequent winner. She could play 13 — 20 cards at one time and still keep a sharp eye on your cards to be sure that you didn’t miss a number.

Lucy survived her Father, Edward Leidy, and her Mother, Ruth Leidy of Cranford, New Jersey, as well as her Sisters Evelyn Kiewra of Inverness, Florida, and June Johnson of Holiday, Florida. She also survived her Brothers Edward Leidy of Cranford, New Jersey, and Emerson Leidy of Elizabeth, New Jersey and a Nephew, Jimmy Leidy, of Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Lucy leaves behind her Sister Ruth Mielke of Fanwood, New Jersey, Brother-In-Law Robert Mielke of Fanwood, New Jersey, Sister Mildred Ho of Honolulu, Hawaii, Brother-In- Law Edwin Ho of Honolulu, Hawaii, Brother- In- Law Donald Johnson of Holiday, Florida, and Sister- In- Law Gertrude Leidy of Elizabeth, New Jersey. She also leaves behind Nephews Wayne Mielke of Wellsburg, West Virginia, Ken Mielke of Henderson, Nevada, David Johnson of Willow, Alaska; Nieces Lynn Southwick of Cape Coral, Florida, Brenda Gorman of Middletown, New Jersey, Debra McCrossan of Brick, New Jersey, Janice Weber of Edison, New Jersey, and Robin Karlovitch of Indialantic, Florida, together with numerous grandnephews and grandnieces, and special neighbors and good friends Joanna DesFonds and her family of Inverness, Florida.

Gordon “Gordy” Straub passed away, unexpectedly, on March 31, 2015 at his home in Virginia. He was a distinguished FSO who served with USAID for 16 years in Nicaragua ,Guatemala, Honduras and in the E&E Bureau in Washington before retiring in 1997.

Gordy had a successful 30 year career as an international development specialist. He began his USAID career in Nicaragua in 1980 as an International Development Intern and moved on to become the Deputy Director of the Office of Rural Development and Natural Resources in Honduras and later the Director of the Regional Office of Agriculture/Natural Resources in ROCAP and in the bilateral mission in Guatemala. He served for four years as the Director of the Productive Resources Office in El Salvador and later became the Senior Environmental Policy Adviser for the Bureau for Eastern Europe and New Independent States until 1997. Gordy also was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala in the Western Highlands from 1970-1972.

After leaving USAID in1997, he became a Principal Associate with ABT Associates where he served in many capacities including Project Director and Principal Adviser for a USAID Agribusiness and Trade Competitive Program in Mozambique and other projects in Central America, Dominican Republic, and the Ukraine.

He held a B.S. in International Studies and a M.A. in Agricultural Economics/Public Policy from the University of Wisconsin.

Dwight Alan “Al: Smith passed away on April 30, 2015. Husband of Katherine Norden-Smith, of Darnestown, Maryland and brother of Susan Smith Shockey of Annandale, Virginia, Al was born in 1953 in Van Wert, Ohio to Rae Mouser Smith and Dwight E. Smith. He held a B.S. degree from Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service and a M.S. in Agricultural Economics from The Ohio State University.

Al was a U.S. Diplomat for 30 years, serving as an Agricultural Economist and Program Development Officer with USAID. A specialist in African affairs, he spent over 20 years posted overseas, including assignments in Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Malawi and Kenya. Interment will be in Columbus, Ohio.

Herbert Adelman (Age 82) was born May 26, 1932 and died May 20, 2015 after a brief illness. He is survived by his loving wife of 58 years, Betty Adelman; his children, Rachel, Paul, and Jennifer; eight grandchildren; and a brother, and three sisters.

Herb attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served as a radio officer during the Korean War, on the U.S.S. McNair, Herb then completed his education at the Columbia Law School. He clerked for Judge Stanley Fuld of the New York State Supreme Court, and then practiced law in New York City.

Attracted to Washington, DC by the Kennedy administration’s Alliance for Progress, he worked in the Agency for International Development’s General Counsel’s Office and in its Latin America Office of Capital Development. He then pursued a private international practice at the law firm Cameron, Hornbostel, and Adelman.

During his first retirement, in the early “80s, he taught U.S. law at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC He returned to law practice as a class-action litigator, successfully representing, with co-counsel, people whose health insurance rates were improperly raised, and then insurance agents who were denied promised permanent health insurance benefits. He continued to work as a class-action litigator for people who needed his strong will and determination. In his last case, he successfully worked with other attorneys to obtain compensation for retirees who had unknowingly invested in a Ponzi scheme run by the CEO of a chain of assisted living facilities.

Although retired (again) at 81, he continued to help people examine the merits of their cases and to find legal representation, especially for claims involving denied health insurance benefits. He was an avid hiker, skier, and kayaker. He loved good friends, good food, and good conversation. He made lifelong friends from a single ride up a snowy mountain in a chairlift with a stranger. Above all, Herb loved and was greatly loved by his family.

Julie T. Phillips, 59, a certified public accountant who retired last year from the Government Accountability Office, died June 12 at her home in Arlington, Va. The office of the chief medical examiner of Virginia said she died of a gunshot wound to the chest. The death was ruled a suicide.

She was born Julie Sindelar in St. Louis and relocated to Washington in 1984. She worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development before joining the General Accounting Office in 1991. She attended Cherrydale Baptist Church in Arlington, where she sang in the choir and participated in women’s ministries. She hosted a Bible study group in her home.

Barbara K. Rodes, 76, an information director for the World Wildlife Fund in Washington from 1985 to 1997, died June 6 at an assisted living center in Boston. She had Alzheimer’s disease, said her husband, Thomas Rodes.

Mrs. Rodes, who moved to Boston from Garrett Park, Md., in 2011, was born Barbara Knauft in Cincinnati. Early on, she was library director of what is now Johnson College in Scranton, Pa., and the information director of the Environmental Law Institute in Washington. She joined the Conservation Foundation in 1980 and moved to the World Wildlife Fund when the organizations merged in 1985.

In addition, she was a project coordinator for the U.S. Agency for International Development from 1993 to 1996 and helped provide resources to libraries in Central and Eastern Europe. She co-wrote “A Dictionary of Environmental Quotations” in 1992.