Author Archive | Ven Suresh

Dick Harger, 79, died peacefully at home on Sunday, April 17, 2016. He was married for nearly sixty years to his high school sweetheart, Lois Kay Hansen Harger. They raised two children, Linda Holly Harger Dembinski of Millstone, New Jersey, and son Daniel Robert Harger of Lake Mills, Wisconsin. Dick was born in Woodland, Michigan, to the late Walter and Margaret Harger.

Dick graduated from Big Rapids High School on June 2, 1955. He then attended Ferris Institute (later Ferris State University). After graduating in February of 1960 with a degree in Accounting, Dick accepted an auditing position with the Government Accounting Office in Los Angeles, California. After working there for two years, he was hired by the Agency for International Development (AID) where he worked in the Controller’s Office for 24 years. His wife and children accompanied him to postings in Kabul, Afghanistan; Georgetown, Guyana; Washington D.C.; Jakarta, Indonesia; Managua, Nicaragua; Panama City, Panama; and Guatemala City, Guatemala. Dick had the honor of being one of the first USAID Senior Foreign Service Officers.

Dick retired to Bradenton, Florida, in 1984 but continued to travel to Africa, Asia, South and Central America, and the Caribbean as an AID consultant. In 1992, Dick and his wife moved to Lake Lure, N.C. where they lived for seven years. Next they lived in Weaverville, NC, for over four years, and for the past eleven years they have called Asheville, N.C. home.

Dick was an avid golfer for many years, finally quitting the game after making his first “hole-in-one” at age 67. He also enjoyed boating, owning six different kinds of boats over the years. His passion was cars, having many over his lifetime, including his dream car, a 1967 Corvette.

Survivors include his wife Kay Harger; daughter Holly and her husband Dr. Kevin Dembinski; his son Dan Harger and his soul mate Debbie Kutz; Dick’s sister Shirley and her husband Duane Massman of Lake Lure; brother Robert and his wife Fina Harger of Tyngsboro, MA; brother Bruce and his wife Linda Harger of Sault Ste. Marie, MI.; and the delight of Dick’s life, his five grandchildren – Cody and wife Stephanie Harger of The Dells, WI; Kyle Harger of Dallas, TX; Dana Harger of Lake Mills, WI; Robert Dembinski of Millstone, NJ; and Jackie Dembinski of Tampa, FL.

Dick will be greatly missed by all who knew him and had the privilege of working with him and calling him a friend.

John Harmon Clary, 81, of Braddock Heights, Maryland, passed away Sunday, April 24, 2016, at Frederick Memorial Hospital. He was the husband of Barbara O’Neil Clary. Born September 26, 1934 in Osceola, Iowa, John was the son of the late Orvelle M. and Mary King Clary.

Mr. Clary retired from USAID where he was a Foreign Service Officer for more than 40 years. During his career he served for four and a half years in Vietnam during the war, sustaining shrapnel injuries; then in Paraguay, where the Clarys’ daughters were born; followed by the Dominican Republic, Nepal and Panama. Fredericktonians may remember John from Bon Ton department store where he worked for several years post-retirement.

He will especially be remembered for his dry sense of humor. An avid student of the Civil War and son of a WWI Veteran, Mr. Clary recently joined American Legion Post #297.

In addition to his wife, John Clary is survived by his daughters Heather Clary and husband Sebastian Silvestro of Annapolis and Hillary Hawkins and husband Kevin Hawkins of Smithsburg, two grandchildren O’Neil Silvestro and Penelope Hawkins and brother James Clary of Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

Michael Feldstein passed away in his home in Washington D.C. April 13, surrounded by friends and neighbors.

Mike’s life and adventures wholly encapsulate the Peace Corps mission of promoting world peace and friendship. In 1963, Mike joined Peace Corps Ethiopia II, and served two years in Dire Dawa establishing adult education programs. The skills he learned and experiences he had while serving in Ethiopia paved the way for what followed. He spent several decades working for the Agency for International Development and the Department of State, helping to set up and run programs to provide relief to those affected by war, poverty, and rights abuses in Southeast Asia, Southern and West Africa, and Latin America.

In retirement, Mike threw himself into service as a long time Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner and founding president of the Dupont Festival organization. Mike will be best remembered for his talent in bringing people together– including neighbors, business-people, city and federal officials, and community groups — and for his unique mix of charm, vision, light-heartedness, and persistence.   Every shopkeeper, sales clerk, waiter, and busboy knew Mike, and he knew them and how their families were doing.

The world, the District, and Mike’s neighborhood felt a little smaller because of his knack for creating friendships and collaboration.

Charles Blankstein, a career foreign service officer with U.S. Agency for International Development, Latin America, died of congestive heart failure on April 30 in Washington DC. He was 80. He is survived by his wife Lucy; daughter Amy; son Andrew; a daughter-in-law Beth and granddaughter Emma.

Edward Ignatius Donoghue of Lanham, Maryland passed away on Wednesday, May 11, 2016. He was the husband of the late Mary Donoghue.

Ed Donoghue was a long time staff member and division chief in USAID’s Africa Bureau, serving under many Assistant Administrators and Directors of the Office of Development Planning. He will surely be remembered fondly by many of his colleagues.

Neil McDonald Kester passed away on July 1st, 2016 in Cary, North Carolina following an 18 month fight with glioblastoma (brain cancer). Neil is survived by his wife Leyla S. Kester his four children Emily Kester, Erin Brady, Grace and Evelyn. He is also survived by his siblings Norma, Jim, Joyce, Susan and Bruce and their families.

Neil was born in Wawanesa Manitoba, Canada in April of 1958. He was one of six children born of Dr. Norman and Evelyn Kester. Emily and Erin were born from his marriage to Kimberley McNeil; they divorced in 1997. Neil married Leyla Gaytan Kawas in 2005. Born to them in Honduras were Grace, now 10 years old, and Evelyn, now 9. The family lives in Apex, North Carolina.

Neil greatly loved Leyla and his four children. Neil valued his employment, first as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire, and then 28 years of service with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He really enjoyed how his work with USAID provided rich experiences for him and his children. He joined as an administrative officer for USAID in Washington in 1987. He was posted to Cairo, Egypt the following year. He served next in Nairobi, Kenya starting in 1991. Following in 1995, Neil was posted to Amman, Jordan, and then transferred to Washington in 1997. Neil was then posted to the recently liberated Kosovo in 1999, where he worked in Pristina until 2001. After a 2001 assignment in Kingston, Jamaica, Neil was posted in Tegucigalpa, Honduras between 2002 and 2007. He met Leyla in Honduras, where their two daughters were born. The family moved in 2007 to Tbilisi, Georgia where Neil also covered Azerbaijan. Between 2009 and 2013, Neil was posted in Cairo for a second time, and also covered USAID administrative matters in Lebanon and Yemen. His last overseas post was Maputo, Mozambique in 2014. He was medically evacuated from Maputo with symptoms that were later diagnosed in the U.S. as glioblastoma brain cancer.

Overseas, on postings and short-term visit, Neil enjoyed the languages he studied, including French, Swahili, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese. In 2012, Neil was promoted to Senior Foreign Service Officer.

Neil was raised Protestant, but joined Leyla as a formal member of the Roman Catholic Church in 2015.*

Norman W. Mosher died peacefully on June 28, 2016 at Goodwin House Bailey”s Crossroads, Falls Church, Virginia. He is survived by his wife Marcie; and children David (Ann) and Beth (Eike); grandchildren, Tom, Emily, Molly, Adam and Garland.

Norman was born in Portland, Maine, in 1922 and grew up in Belfast, Maine. He attended the University of Maine and, after graduating in 1943, served in the U.S. Army. He was one of the few in his unit who was not captured, wounded, or killed as the group made its way from Cherbourg, France to Czechoslovakia by the war”s end.

Norman returned to do graduate work in economics and International Relations at the University of Maine and then the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He worked in the Office of Intelligence and Research in the U.S. State Department before helping to found Associates for International Research.

After receiving a Ford Grant to conduct economic research in Ghana, West Africa, he worked with the U.S. Agency for International Development. He served with the U.S. Aid Mission in Nigeria and then with the American Delegation to the Asian Development Bank in Manila, the Philippines. For his work he travelled widely in West Africa and Southeast Asia.

Norman was a devoted reader and enjoyed sailing, camping, canoeing and following political issues. In retirement he learned new woodworking skills and designed and built furniture.

On Saturday, July 23, 2016, Francis X. Hartman of Silver Spring, MD. Beloved husband of the late Jean R. Hartman; father of Michael Hartman (Andrea Baridon), Kathleen Townley (Joseph), and Christopher Hartman; grandfather of Kayleen, Christina, Bethany, and Nicholas Townley; predeceased by his brother Louis Hartman and sister Patricia Day.

A lifelong Washingtonian, Fran served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He later worked as a Federal government accountant, with many years at the State Department and its Agency for International Development. During his happy and lengthy retirement, he enjoyed playing competitive duplicate bridge, attending musical performances, and watching Washington baseball and football.

Peter Geithner died peacefully on July 29, 2016, at home in Orleans, Massachusetts with his children and grandchildren in his presence. Born July 14, 1932 to Paul H. Geithner and Henriette Schuck Geithner in Philadelphia, he graduated with a B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1954 and served for four years as a Naval Aviator.

After receiving an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Peter joined Columbia Carbon International and then spent six years at the U.S. Agency for International Development in Zimbabwe, Zambia (then the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland) and Washington, DC. He worked for almost three decades at the Ford Foundation, where helped shape programs in support of education, public health, human rights, and economic development. At the Ford Foundation, he served as the Deputy Representative for India, the Representative for Southeast Asia, Program Officer in Charge of Developing Country Programs, and the Foundation’s first representative in China. Peter served as advisor to the Asia Center at Harvard University, China Medical Board, Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and other organizations. He served on the Boards of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, China Center for Economic Research, Center for the Advanced Study of India, and other organizations. He was devoted to his colleagues and friends throughout the world and to their aspirations and causes.

With his family, he shared his love of basketball and tennis, the ocean, and chocolate, commitment to public service, and fascination with the broader world. Peter was married for 54 years to Deborah Moore Geithner until her death in 2014. He is survived by his brother Paul H. Geithner, Jr., his son Timothy and his wife Carole, his daughter Sarah, his son Jonathan and his wife Debora, his son David and his wife Christine; and his grandchildren, Elise, Benjamin, Kaiya, Lincoln, Peter, Clare, Caroline, Piya and Malee.*