Archive | 2018

Gartini Isa Griffin, Raden Adjung (princess) Gartini Soeriadanoeningrat, passed away peacefully on Jan. 6, 2018, with her Indonesian and American families nearby.

She was born May 14, 1946, at Sumedang in West Java, Indonesia. “Tini” as she was affectionately known here, spent most of her childhood in Bandung, West Java, where her father was a government official.  She initially learned her English in Hong Kong, where her father Gandi had a diplomatic posting. Ultimately, she received her bachelor’s in English from Jakarta’s Universitat Christin Indonesia.

Tini devoted her professional life to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Jakarta, where she specialized in aiding those who suffered from political and/or religious persecution.  She was honored as one of the first two recipients of United States Agency for International Development’s prestigious John Withers Human Rights Award in 2009 awarded to an individual who promoted human rights, including the protection of minorities, and acted with courage and displayed exceptional integrity, intellectual, and moral courage and commitment.  After relocating to the United States in 2008, she assisted Amnesty International and other NGO organizations in the Washington, D.C. area in their support of human rights and civil society, as well as volunteering as an English-Indonesian translator.

She moved from Washington, DC to the Mount Washington Valley in New Hampshire where she continued her volunteer efforts on behalf of human rights, as well as volunteering at the Jackson Public Library and other community organizations.  ,She became a U.S. citizen in 2014.

Those she touched most closely include her husband Albert J. Griffin Jr. of Glen, N.H., and his sisters Mary, Kathleen, Helen and Julia as well as her Indonesian family, including daughter Saraswati Isa and her husband, Edward Aditya; her son Indra Asikin Isa and his wife, Maria Melissa Riyani Putri; and her grandchildren, Gabriel Sasha Mahoni Isa and Isabel Gwendolyn Aditya.

Tini’s greatest legacy is not only her lifelong contributions to human rights, but the many friendships she treasured, whether those of her childhood in Indonesia, her many years working for the USAID or the many residents of Mount Washington Valley she befriended.   A celebration of her life will be scheduled later in the spring. Messages of condolence may be left online at bryantfuneralhome.net.

Jerome Dale Hulehan, 79, of Satellite Beach, FL passed away unexpectedly at his home February 23, 2018. Jerome was born December 14, 1938 in Cape Girardeau, MO.

He graduated from Sikeston High School in 1956 and received his Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri. After graduation, Jerome spent 25 years serving his country with distinction with USAID. His assignments were in Brazil, Uruguay, Kenya, France and Jamaica. He then started his second career as a psychotherapist until his retirement.

Mr. Hulehan is survived by four sisters, Carmen Hulehan Love (Tom) of Dexter, MO, Sandy Hulehan of Pensacola, FL , Rita Hulehan Chapman (Mark) of Pensacola, Connie Hulehan Garcia of Deland, FL and one brother, Wayne Hulehan of Alexandria, VA. He is also survived by four nephews, three nieces, four great nephews and two great nieces and his dear friend Shahin Torabi. He also leaves behind his dog and best friend, Izaak.

Jerome was preceded in death by his parents, Horace and Deloma Hulehan, sisters, Bonita Hulehan Johnson, Glenda Gale Hulehan, and his wife Janet Wall Hulehan.

Jerome will always be remembered for his love of his family and enjoying his “peaceful” years enjoying his retirement in Florida.

Dana Dalrymple, 85, died of complications from pneumonia on March 7 at his home in Washington, D.C. after suffering from dementia. Colleagues, friends and family will celebrate his life at a later date to be announced.

Dalrymple, a 36-year veteran of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), worked to improve farming practices worldwide. Most of his career was spent working for CGIAR, formerly the Consultative Group for International Agriculture Research, which he supported soon after its inception in 1972.  As an agricultural economist, he shaped the policies, programs and budgets of the agency’s Washington headquarters and 16 international centers in South America, Africa and Asia, and he traveled to most of them. During his career, he became an expert in Soviet agriculture, high-yielding crop varieties in the developing world, and wrote many papers showing how science and research act as a force for public good. In retirement, Dalrymple compiled and published an extensive survey of research into the use of a Chinese medicinal herb, artemisia, in treating drug-resistant malaria.

Dana Grant Dalrymple was born in Seneca Falls, N.Y., on Nov. 5, 1932 to Daniel M. Dalrymple and Esther Shappee Dalrymple.  His future was foreseen by a family friend and author, Raymond F. Yates, who dedicated The Boy and the Battery (1942), a primer on electricity and magnetism, “To a little boy named Dana Dalrymple who shows an uncommon interest in the world around him.”

Dana studied at the agriculture school at Cornell University, where he found a home at the Alpha Zeta agricultural fraternity, earning an undergraduate degree (1954) studying pomology, followed by two advanced degrees in agricultural economics—the M.S. from Cornell in 1956, and, after a stint at the University of Connecticut, the Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1962.

He moved to Washington D.C. that year for a job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, before transferring to USAID, where he remained for 36 years, until he retired in October 2008.

In his spare time, Dalrymple pursued other research interests.  In 1980, he co-founded and co-presided over the Friends of the Palisades Library, a community group based in the northwest D.C. neighborhood to which the Dalrymples had moved a decade before.  Around home, he kept a close eye on neighborhood construction projects in the capacity of “sidewalk superintendent” and indoors, he read extensively on engineering and the history of technology.  Another passion of his, the history of Washington’s National Mall, culminated with his writing a chapter about the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Designing the Nation’s Capital:  The 1901 Plan for Washington, D.C., published by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in 2006.

Dana was preceded in death by his wife, Helen in 2009 and his brother, Ross in 2001. He is survived by his sons, Dan, of Rockland, Maine, and Will, of London, England; brothers Doug of Bloomington, Ind., and Roger of San Leandro, Calif.; his sister Anne Krantz of Amherst, N.H. and sister-in-law Bonnie of Richmond, V.A.; three grandchildren, Kate, Tom and Emily Dalrymple, all of London; and several nieces and nephews.

Lloyd Oliver Pierson, 77, of Waco, Texas was a beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother who passed away peacefully on Saturday, April 14, 2018 at his home in Arlington, VA.

An accomplished statesman, Lloyd earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Houston. Lloyd dedicated his career to international service, focused on relations between the US and Africa. Among other things during this  political career, Lloyd was the Acting Director and Chief of Staff for the Peace Corps, was an Administrator for US Agency for International Development, a Senior International Adviser for the Save Darfur Coalition, and the President of the US African Development Foundation. He also served on various boards that focused on the youth in Africa.

An avid weightlifter, Lloyd still holds various national bench press records. Lloyd had various other hobbies including collecting country music records, sports memorabilia, historic newspaper and magazines, and souvenirs of African history.

But more than anything, Lloyd was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and brother, whose family benefited immeasurably from his loving support, selflessness, and compassion. He is survived by his wife, Elida, sons Lloyd, Gene, and George, along with their spouses Laura, Amanda, and Anissa, his grandchildren Lloyd Oliver and Robert and his brothers and sister, James, Larry and Darlene.

William Perry Stedman Jr., a retired Foreign Service officer and former U.S ambassador, died on March 25, 2018, at the age of 95. He lived in Bethesda, Maryland.

A native of Maryland, “Bill” Stedman received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland in 1943, then served overseas as a commissioned U.S. Navy officer from 1943 to 1946. A year later, he earned his master’s degree from the School for Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Stedman entered the Foreign Service in 1947 and was posted to Buenos Aires as a consular officer. He was transferred to San José as an economic officer three years later. He served as a consular officer in Stuttgart from 1953 to 1956.

After a two-year assignment as an intelligence analyst at the Department of State, in 1958 he was seconded to the International Cooperation Administration, a U.S. Agency for International Development precursor. He worked as an assistant program officer in the ICA mission in Guatemala from 1959 to 1961. He was the financial officer in Mexico City from 1961 to 1963. At State from 1963 to 1966, he served as the Guatemala desk officer and later as the deputy director of the Office of Regional Economic Policy in the former Bureau of Inter-American Affairs. In 1966, Mr. Stedman was assigned to Lima as counselor for economic affairs and deputy director of the USAID mission. He returned to the State in 1968 to direct the Office of Ecuadorian and Peruvian Affairs. May 2018. Two years later, he became director of the Office of Andean-Pacific Affairs. He was detailed to the first Senior Seminar for the 1970-1971 academic year. He served as the director of the Office of Argentine-Paraguayan/Uruguayan Affairs from 1971 to 1973. In 1973, President Nixon nominated Mr. Stedman to be the U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia. He served in La Paz until 1977, when he was appointed as a deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs. He retired several years later.

Ambassador Stedman accepted an offer to be the Senior Policy Advisor of the Fellowship in the International Development Program of Partners of the Americas. He established and led the interagency Senior Seminar Alumni Association and the Ford Latin American Group, both of which met regularly at DACOR Bacon House. He was twice elected to the Board of Governors and was a member of the Finance and Budget Committee. Ambassador Stedman was awarded the Foreign Service Cup, “

Ambassador Stedman leaves his children, Diana Stedman Donaldson, James Boardman Stedman and Lawrence Christopher Stedman, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His wife, Janet A. Stedman, died several years earlier.

Juan José (Pepe) Buttari (79) died in his home on April 30, 2018 after a year long battle with brain cancer. Mr. Buttari was born on November 22, 1938 in Havana, Cuba to Juan José and Luz Buttari.

Juan was an indefatigable fighter for the freedom of his beloved country, Cuba.

Since his adolescent years, he suffered incarceration on several occasions; first, fighting against a dictatorship and then fighting against the existing communist regime in Cuba. Juan arrived in the United States on December 17, 1960. A few months later, he participated in the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion. He remained in prison for almost two years.

Upon returning to the United States, Juan decided to continue his studies without neglecting his endeavors for Cuba’s freedom. He obtained his Doctorate in Economics at Georgetown University. He fell in love with the area and made Virginia his home state.

Juan worked as an economist for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for thirty years, frequently traveling abroad to several countries in South and Central America, Africa, and Asia. After retirement, he worked as a consultant for many years and continued traveling to different countries. At the same time, he was proudly involved with a group of retired economists, serving as chairperson.

Juan’s favorite leisure activities were reading and playing tennis. He was an excellent tennis player, which he played up until two weeks before his brain surgery.

Juan has always been a man of strong and firm moral convictions. He always looked after his family and his friends; always ready to lend a helping hand to whoever needed it.

Juan is survived by his wife Heidy, son John, daughter Heidy McCarthy (Brian) and grandchildren Liam, Amelia, and Jack. He is also survived by his sister Lilia, niece Lili, and nephew Luis (Vanessa). He will always be loved and remembered by his family and friends.

The early morning of Sunday June 3rd, 2018, Dennis Patrick Barrett – residing in Apex, NC, passed away at the age of 81 after a long and valiant struggle with an insidious pulmonary ailment.

Dennis was born on July 21st, 1936 in St. Paul, MN to George T. and Helen Barrett (nee Roan); the youngest of two older siblings – Timothy and Mary Ann. A Native American Tlingit Indian by heritage, Dennis was raised on various Navajo Reservations across the Pacific Northwest, Arizona, and New Mexico. He attended Catholic schools across these reservations, eventually joining the Franciscan Order, with an early passion and calling to pursue Priesthood. He is fondly remembered by his dear friend Father Dennet Jung, who Dennis was fortunate to have by his side as he departed this world. He was an avid sportsman, with keen interest and passion for baseball – developing near professional-level skills by the time he started his college years. Dennis graduated from the University of Portland (B.A., 1959) and the University of Southern California (M.P.A., 1966). He received his honorary Ph.D. from University of Portland in 1996. Prior to starting his diplomatic career, he also served in the United States Army.

Dennis would fondly recall all the interesting, and sometimes dangerous, short-term jobs he held while putting himself through school – from deftly (and to the surprise of the owner, profitably) manning a hot-dog stand at the local baseball stadium, to pulling in heavy nets and cages on a rickety boat in brutally-cold Alaskan sea; no job was too small or dangerous to get in the way of achieving his goals. This tenacity served him well when he made his way to Washington, DC, where he made several hundred copies of his resume and flooded the mailboxes at the Department of State. His determination was rewarded with a call, pleading with him to stop clogging the internal mail at the State – and kindly come in for an interview; and rest, as they say, is history. Dennis, in service of his beloved country since 1960, served in some of the most difficult regions of the world – ensuring that United States’ aid to deserving countries was spent appropriately, and accounted for. Dennis succeeded in germinating, or nurturing, democracies in countries like Pakistan, Nigeria, South Korea, Philippines, South Africa, and Madagascar. When necessary, he adroitly shifted his ‘soft-touch’ diplomacy to a resolute stance – achieving results demanded by the American citizens. Dennis considered effectuating the breakup of South African Apartheid, and playing a seminal role in the release of Nelson Mandela as one of his crowning diplomatic achievements. Another of Dennis’ major achievements was his invitation to, and subsequent establishment of, the United States Peace Corp offices in Madagascar.

Dennis, a consummate Career Officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development – USAID and United States Department of State, concluded his long and distinguished career serving American interest and values across the developing world as the Ambassador Extraordinaire and Plenipotentiary for the Democratic Republic of Madagascar.

Dennis, over the course of his service with the USAID and the State, received numerous awards from the U.S. Government and Governments of Nigeria, South Africa, and the Philippines. He was also awarded the Order of National Commander by the Government of Madagascar, which was the first time this Order had ever been conferred on a foreigner.

Dennis married the love of his life, Rosemary (Rosie) Barrett (nee Sumner), on December 22nd, 1988 in South Africa – who, until his final breath, remained vigilant by his side.

In an interview with the Portland Magazine, published by his Alma Mater, Dennis noted that “… I like to believe that we never lost faith in the fundamental goodness of people and their hope for freedom.” In many ways, these words serve as the coda for Dennis’ resplendent life.

Douglas Joseph Bennet Jr. (June 23, 1938 – June 10, 2018) was an American political official and college president. He was the fifteenth president of Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Connecticut, from 1995 to 2007. Before that, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs in the Clinton Administration (1993–95) and Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs in the Carter administration (1977–79), was the President and CEO of National Public Radio (1983–93), and ran the U.S. Agency for International Development under President Carter (1979–81).

Born in Orange, New Jersey, to Douglas Joseph Bennet, Sr. and Phoebe Benedict Bennet, Bennet grew up in Lyme, Connecticut, and attended the local public schools. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University in 1959, an M.A. in history from the University of California, Berkeley in 1960, and a doctorate in history from Harvard University in 1968.

He was an assistant to Ambassador Chester Bowles in the 1960s. In 1970, he announced his candidacy for the Democratic primary for Connecticut’s 2nd congressional district, which was vacated by the death of Congressman William St. Onge.

He later served on the staffs of Missouri Senator Thomas F. Eagleton, Minnesota Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, and Connecticut Senator Abraham Ribicoff. In 1977, Bennet became United States Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs.

Bennet succeeded John J. Gilligan as the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development in 1979, where he served for two years. After heading a private research institute, he was named head of NPR in 1983.[2] In 1993, President Bill Clinton named Bennet as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, where he served until 1995.

In April 1995, Bennet succeeded William Chace, becoming the fifteenth president of Wesleyan University. Bennet developed Wesleyan’s first comprehensive strategic plan, “Strategy for Wesleyan,” adopted in 1998. He renewed the institution’s strategic vision, in 2005, with a new plan, “Engaged with the World.” The “Strategy for Wesleyan” defined key institutional priorities: an expansion of the faculty in order to extend scholarship and teaching in new and interdisciplinary areas; a reaffirmation of the University’s commitment to need-blind admission; and a program of campus renewal. “Engaged with the World” included further and continuing curricular innovations and renewed commitments to science and international studies.

A history-making $281 million fundraising campaign supported these priorities and enabled Wesleyan to create 140 new scholarships, add 20 new faculty positions and six endowed professorships, and embark on more than $200 million in renovation and construction projects on campus. Bennet also sought better and increased collaboration with the city of Middletown. Under his guidance, Wesleyan participated actively in the city’s development efforts, which resulted in, among other things, a new hotel downtown and the Green Street Arts Center, “a community arts center meant to help revitalize the city’s North End.”

On May 4, 2006, Bennet announced that he would step down as president following the 2006-2007 academic year. The last several years of his twelve-year presidency were contentious in some respects, with opposition by a minority in the student body on certain matters. Some students believed Bennet’s fundraising priorities conflicted with the interests and needs of the student body, and the university’s mission of education. A student movement came to a head in December 2004, when approximately 250 students (of more than 2,700 undergraduates) protested in front of the administrative building South College, where Bennet’s office was located, demanding that he address student concerns. On March 26, 2007, Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees announced that Michael S. Roth would succeed Bennet as president for the 2007-2008 academic year.

On June 13, surrounded by family and friends, Elena Brineman passed away in Washington, DC from complications of metastasized breast cancer after a 22-year-long battle. She was a consummate foreign assistance professional, wonderful sister, caring aunt, a lover of beautiful things, a life-long learner with curiosity about everything, and had a practical and down-to-earth attitude about life.

Elena was born in Bogota, Colombia of American parents, Elena and Jack Brineman. The family had moved to Dallas, TX, Guatemala City, Guatemala and Calgary, Alberta, Canada by the time Elena was ready for college. Elena received her BA in Biology from Whitman College, Washington, and her Masters in Nutrition from Oregon State University at Corvallis.

She started her foreign assistance career in 1976 as a member of the research staff for the Nutrition Institute for Central America and Panama in Guatemala. In 1977-78 she also took on being Food and Nutrition Advisor, USAID/San Salvador, El Salvador. From 1979-81, she served in Washington, DC as Regional Food & Nutrition Adviser for the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), USAID, before returning to Guatemala from 1981-85 to serve as Regional Food and Nutrition Officer for Central America and Panama, USAID/ROCAP. She then served at ROCAP as Acting Deputy Mission Director before moving to DC to serve as Deputy Director for Technical Resources, Development Resources Office, LAC Bureau from 1989-92. Elena spent a year as a student at the National War College and then moved to Honduras where she spent seven years, first as USAID Deputy Mission Director and then as Mission Director. For her service in 1998 to the people of Honduras in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch she was awarded the highest honor given by the Honduran Government. In 2000 she became USAID Mission Director in the Dominican Republic. She was appointed to the Faculty of the Army War College in Carlisle, PA in 2006, and became Director of the Office of Military Affairs in Washington, DC, from which she retired in 2011. Her lifelong dedication to foreign assistance was level-headed, fact driven and balanced by her desire to leave people and places better than she found them.

She is remembered with love and respect by her sister, Anne Anderson; her nieces, Laurie and Kelley Anderson; nephews, Geoff Anderson, and Keeley and Chuck Brineman; and also by the loving family of Scott and Kathy Brineman, Tammy, Bob, Tina, and their children. She is also remembered by great-nephews, Evan and Alex, and great-nieces, Gia, Charlie and Perrin, as well as by friends around the world. A website has been established for friends and family to share memories at www.forevermissed.com/elena-l-brineman. The memorial service will be on August 11th, from 2-5 PM at the Josephine Butler Parks Center,2437 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009.  In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to one of the following organizations that were close to Elena’s heart: Save the Children (www.savethechildren.org), The Riverside Nature Center (www.riversidenaturecenter.org), or Project SHARE (www.projectsharepa.org).