Archive | 2018

Robert Dubinsky, who championed housing throughout the world and low-income housing in the United States, passed away on Tuesday June 20, 2018 in his adopted home of Washington, D. C., where he moved from St. Louis  in 1966.

Bob worked for many organizations in the United States and abroad, including The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, The Rand Corporation, USAID, Aspen Systems, Westat, and International City/County Managers Association. He concluded his career as Chairman of the International Housing Coalition in Washington, D. C. His overseas residential tours of duties were in Jamaica, Barbados and Israel and included numerous consulting assignments in Eastern Europe. Bob believed home ownership was an essential element of democracy.  He was awarded the Justin Herman Memorial Award by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials for his work in international housing.

Bob attended John Burroughs School where he was Senior Class President and played tackle on the legendary varsity football teams of 1951 and 1952. He was a Bomber in true heart and soul and, in adult life, wore his JBS cap with pride every day.  At Harvard he was business manager for the famous Hasty Pudding Club. Bob lived a long, full and exemplary life, filled with joy and humor.

Bob was devoted to his wife Louise Gish Dubinsky, his two stepchildren, Margo Murray (Michael) and Stephen Weinress (Jaime). He loved his siblings, John Dubinsky and Linda Skrainka (deceased) and their spouses Yvette Drury Dubinsky and Stephen Skrainka, and he adored his six nephews and nieces, Anne Dubinsky Altman (Michael), Eleanor Dubinsky, Frank Dubinsky, Benjamin Skrainka, Sarah Skrainka, and Katherine Skrainka (Eric Stradal).   Bob also leaves four step grandchildren and two great nephews, Gibson and Burke Murray, Camden and Wesley Weinress, and Joey and Aaron Altman.  He had many devoted friends in St. Louis, Washington, D. C. and throughout the world.

Melvin L. Schuweiler passed away June 11, 2018. He led a distinguished career both in and out of public service. Born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin in 1921 to Louis P. Schuweiler and Suzanne Elizabeth Danielski Schuweiler, he married Mary Burke Babcock (whom he met when they were both students at the University of Wisconsin) in 1944 and she remained the love of his life until her death in 2008.

His college studies were interrupted by World War II where he served in the 53rd Armored Infantry Battalion, 4th Armored Division, earning a European Theater of Operations medal with three campaign stars, Purple Heart with one cluster, Silver Star for Gallantry in action, Bronze Star for Valor and Presidential Unit Citation Badge. He resumed college after the war, earning a B.S. in International Relations at American University.

Aside from forays into private business, he served most of his career as an economist with the Agency for International Development (A.I.D) at the State Department from 1968 until his retirement in 1982. After raising a family in Falls Church, Virginia, Mary and Mel retired to Reston, and then to Greensprings Retirement Community in Springfield, Virginia, before Mel spent his final days at the Willows at Meadows Branch Assisted Living in Winchester, Virginia.

He is survived by three children and four grandchildren, Mark Lewis Schuweiler (Jackie Mier) in Morgantown, West Virginia, father of Sarah E. Zinn and Kristen Alberts; Robert Charles Schuweiler (Virginia Pace Schuweiler) in Bunker Hill, West Virginia, father of Mary Beth Schuweiler; and Mary Suzanne “Zan” Schuweiler (Harry W. Boone), in Atlanta, Georgia, mother of Zoe Rose Daab. In addition, he is survived by six great grandchildren.

Mary Ann Cadwell Mudge, age 91, died Thursday, June 28, 2018 at Kendal in Hanover, NH. She lived a full life, blessed with family, friends and adventure. She was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on February 24, 1927 to the late Jim and Fern Cadwell and had one older brother, Don Cadwell. She moved early in life to Mora, Minnesota, where her father ran a Coast to Coast Hardware store and her mother was a teacher and gardener.She graduated from Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota and taught high school history for two years before moving to Washington, D.C. to work for Senator Hubert H. Humphrey. It was in Washington, D.C. where she met her husband, the late Arthur Warren Mudge. They were married September 6, 1953 in Mora, Minnesota and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, so Arthur could attend Harvard Law School. While in Cambridge, their first daughter, Rebecca Ann Mudge was born. The young family then moved to Canterbury, NH, where they purchased a 1775 former country inn, which they lovingly restored. While in Canterbury, they had three more daughters, Susanna, Sarah Maria, and Kathryn Mary. In 1966, the family moved to Arlington, Virginia where Arthur worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development. In 1969, the family moved to Panama, to be followed by moves to Peru, Bolivia, Guyana, Nicaragua, and Sudan. In 1979, Mary received her Master’s in Library Science from Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts. She later worked as the librarian at the Khartoum American School. After retiring from USAID, Mary and Art returned to NH, where they continued to restore old houses. Mary worked as a librarian at the Weathersfield School in Ascutney, Vermont and then with her nephew Randy Mudge at his architecture firm. In 2009 Mary and Art moved into Kendal at Hanover, which they enjoyed until the end of their respective lives. Mary is survived by her four daughters, son in law’s Raul Sanguinetti, Clarke Havener and Arturo Valenzuela, five grandchildren, Mariah, Noah, Ari, Ethan and Addy, sister- and brother-in law Nancy and Hugh Sycamore, and a wonderful extended family. She will always be remembered for her laugh, her love of learning, travel, day lilies, and her strong opinions. A celebration of her life will be held later this summer. In lieu of flowers, donations in Mary’s name can be made to the Circle Camp or Camp Onaway, both in New Hampshire.

On May 5, 2018 Stephen Fields Wallace, retired USAID Executive Officer, passed away in his home in Venice, Florida. He died of natural causes stemming from coronary and pulmonary disease.

Steve’s career with USAID, began as a foreign service Junior Officer Trainee (JOT) in 1966.  His career traversed both the Program Planning and the Administrative and Management backstops.  His first program assignment was to USAID Ethiopia (1967-68), followed by USAID Somali Republic (1969-1970).  Subsequently, he was posted to USAID Viet Nam as an Assistant Program Officer where he worked in the Program Office, the Education and Labor Division, and as a Special Assistant to the Chief of the Engineering and Capital Development Division (1970 to 1974).

Rotating back to AID/W, Steve was seconded to the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) where he served as a Counselor (1974-75).  Steve recalled this one year of service as being one of the most important in his career, namely advocating on behalf of Foreign Service officers and their families.  Subsequently, he served as the Assistant Desk Officer for Bangladesh (1975-1976) before applying to, and being accepted by, the Agency’s Administrative Management and Executive Development (AMED) program (1976), which led to his assignment to USAID Indonesia (1977 to 1979) as the Management Officer.  Steve’s next assignment was to AID/W’s Office of Personnel Management where he worked as a recruiter of International Development Interns, followed by service as the Management Officer for the Africa Bureau (1980 to 1983).  Following his AID/W rotation, Steve was posted to USAID Senegal as the Supervisory Executive Officer (1984 to 1989) and subsequently to REDSO West and Central Africa in Abidjan (1990 to 1995). His final assignment was as the Executive Officer in USAID Panama, 1996 to 2000.  Through his career as a USAID Executive Officer, Steve was frequently cited for his efforts to make management systems more efficient, customer friendly and less expensive.

Stephen Wallace was the son of Earl and Lucille Wallace and born in Kansas City, Missouri April 15, 1941.  He grew up in Topeka, Kansas and graduated from Washburn University with a B.A. in Political Science.  During his undergraduate years, he took a year of German studies and language at the University of Freiburg. He also served as a State Department Summer Intern in 1962.  During his school and university years Steve was an accomplished musician, a trombonist, who played in marching bands, symphony orchestras and jazz groups.  Steve continued his academic studies at the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver, earning a Master of Arts degree in political science and Latin American studies in 1966.

Steve chose Venice, Florida as his retirement place. He was involved in community and city politics and socially active in the Foreign Service retirement community.

All who knew Steve as a colleague and friend will recall his very distinctive and explosive laugh which accompanied a wicked sense of humor. Steve filled his retirement days with classical music and daily walks.  No matter his struggles with health issues, he always was in good humor and displayed a welcoming, mischievous, smile.  Steve was an anchor in the lives of many and will be sorely missed.

Steve is survived by his older brother Donald, his son Son Cong Tran, his daughters Ave Persaud-Wallace and Natalie Wallace, and his six grandchildren.

Peter Askin of Haymarket, VA passed away on Monday, August 13, 2018.

Peter, a retired Senior Foreign Service officer, spent 31 years with the Agency for International Development in various senior overseas and Washington assignments, among which were USAID Mission Director in El Salvador and Guatemala and as head of the Agency’s Central American Office during the turbulent 1980s. He was the recipient of several prestigious presidential and agency awards for his work and achievements during that time.

Peter retired from the Foreign Service in 1992, and then spent several years as an international development consultant, and later developed and taught courses in international development for Tulane University. In addition to a lifelong interest in history and U.S. foreign policy, his hobbies included tennis, sailing and genealogy. He was an active member of Holy Trinity Parish in Gainesville, VA as well as a member of the Secular Franciscan Order, and a frequent volunteer at the House of Mercy in Manassas VA.

Peter, who cherished and never forgot his western roots, was born in South Dakota and obtained most of his higher education in Montana. He served in the US Army as an artillery officer during the Korean War. He and his family came to the Washington area from Idaho in 1959, and he joined President Kennedy’s New Frontier in 1961.

Funeral services will be held at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Gainesville, VA on Thursday August 23rd at 10:30 am followed by a Celebration of Life at the Regency Club.

Princeton Lyman, a career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Nigeria and later to South Africa, where he helped engineer the transition from the country’s apartheid era of white supremacy to a multiracial, democratically elected government in the 1990s, died Aug. 24 at his home in Silver Spring, Md. He was 82. The cause was lung cancer, said a daughter, Lori Bruun.

Dr. Lyman joined the Foreign Service in 1961 and was assigned to the newly formed U.S. Agency for International Development. He lived in Korea in the 1960s, then turned his primary attention to Africa, serving as USAID’s program director in Ethi­o­pia in the 1970s and as U.S. ambassador to Nigeria from 1986 to 1989.

He achieved his greatest diplomatic breakthroughs in South Africa, where he was ambassador from 1992 to 1995. He arrived at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria two years after Nelson Mandela had been released from his 27-year imprisonment. The country’s political parties — divided by race — spoke past each other, leaving the country on the brink of civil war. Police brutality toward black protesters was commonplace. “When I arrived, the negotiations were in total disarray,” Dr. Lyman said in a 1999 oral history for the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. “The threat of more violence was palpable. No one knew where the country was heading.”

Dr. Lyman, who grew up in a multiethnic neighborhood in San Francisco, approached the combustible situation with a sense of practicality and patience. He had the ear of both Mandela, who led the African National Congress party, and South Africa’s white president, F.W. de Klerk, who freed Mandela from prison and allowed opposition parties to function.

“Princeton became an important mediator bringing parties together, hoping to arrive at a shared understanding of what the future might look like,” George Moose, who was undersecretary of state for African affairs at the time, said in an interview. “He was very much the confidant of both parties, and they trusted him.” Contingency plans were being made by U.S. officials for how to handle a full-scale revolution in South Africa and its possible reverberations at home and abroad.

In South Africa, Dr. Lyman had dozens of conversations with Mandela and de Klerk. He brought them together to negotiate in person and to agree to continue discussions despite outbreaks of violence. “I found that I could talk to Mandela very easily, exchanging ideas,” Dr. Lyman said in the oral history. He found Mandela “a man of great dignity and great courtesy. We used to have very candid discussions. One had to understand that while he was able to laugh at himself, you had to treat him with dignity.”

He mollified rival political groups and kept the negotiations going between the principal leaders of how South Africa could manage a transition from the repressive apartheid rule of the minority white government to a more inclusive society. The result of Dr. Lyman’s behind-the-scenes talks were seen in 1994, when South Africa held its first multiracial elections. Mandela won the presidency with an overwhelming vote.

“At the time, no one thought the South African situation was going to end peacefully,” Moose said. “Princeton was an architect in helping Washington understand what the path could look like. Princeton’s role was very much underreported and underappreciated.”

Princeton Nathan Lyman was born Nov. 20, 1935, in San Francisco. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Lithuania who ran a corner grocery store in a largely African American neighborhood. His parents valued education and named four of their five sons after universities: Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Princeton. (Another son was named Elliott, and a daughter was named Sylvia.)

Dr. Lyman graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1957 and received a doctorate in political science from Harvard University in 1961.

Dr. Lyman was the State Department’s director of refugee affairs from 1989 to 1992. After returning from South Africa, he was the State Department’s chief liaison to the United Nations, working closely with Secretary General Kofi Annan, who died Aug. 18. After retiring in 1999, he held posts at the Aspen Institute, U.S. Institute for Peace and Council on Foreign Relations.

While he was U.S. ambassador to Nigeria from 1986 to 1989, Dr. Lyman said he learned that a smile and well-placed compliment went a long way in managing an embassy — and in dealing with the host country. “The ambassador set the tone,” he said in the oral history. “If things were going well and the ambassador was happy, everybody worked that much harder. If the ambassador worried and fretted, so did the staff.”

From 2011 to 2013, he served as the special envoy to Sudan, seeking to resolve disputes that led to the division of the country. He published a book about his experiences in South Africa, “Partner to History: The U.S. Role in South Africa’s Transition to Democracy,” in 2002.

His first wife, the former Helen Ermann, died in 2008 after 50 years of marriage. Survivors include his wife since 2009, Lois Hobson of Silver Spring; three daughters from his first marriage, Tova Brinn of Safed, Israel, Sheri Laigle of Silver Spring and Lori Bruun of Columbia, Md.; a brother; a sister; 11 grandchildren; and two great-grandsons.

During trying, even dangerous moments, Dr. Lyman could find humor in the life of a diplomat. “I keep telling people that when I go to Nigeria, I have a lot of fun,” he said in his 1999 oral history. “I say that even when the Nigerians have their hands in your pocket, they are fun. Once I was in a large crowd and a Nigerian did put his hand in my pocket. I stopped him and all he had to say was: ‘Sorry!’*

C. Richard Zenger passed away May 22, 2018, in Portland. He was 94.  Born in Portland March 11, 1924, Dick Zenger was raised by his mother, Nell Springer Zenger, a physical education teacher. He attended Boise Elementary School and Jefferson High School, where he was elected student body president and made many lifelong friends. In December 1941, after Pearl Harbor, Dick enlisted in the Marine Corps and served in the Pacific Theater as a radioman with the First Armored Amphibian Battalion. After the war, he married Edna Joyce Whitney, his high school sweetheart, and they started their family. When the Korean conflict erupted, Dick was called back to active duty. He survived the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, which took place in the dead of winter, and which he called “the worst experience of my life.” One day, as a forward spotter for an artillery company, Dick was one of the first to observe a fog bank that turned out to be the breath of thousands of Chinese solders advancing on his company’s position. The bonds he forged with his comrades during war were always strong and meaningful for him.

When Dick retired from the Foreign Service in 1981, he and Edna celebrated their love of travel by embarking on a yearlong trip that started in Tunis and wandered around the Mediterranean and eastward across Asia. By the time they arrived back in Portland, they had spent time in 15 countries, eaten an amazing array of food (detailed in Edna’s letters), and challenged each other to 365 games of Scrabble. Dick was winning by one game.

In retirement, Dick and Edna settled in in N.W. Portland. They continued to travel internationally for a number of years for his consulting work with regional housing offices. They enjoyed staying in touch with a wide circle of friends and relatives. They explored the beauties of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest as hikers and birders, and spent many weeks each winter at Cannon Beach. In his 70’s, Dick hiked the Oregon Coast solo from Astoria to the California border. His desire to know more about his ancestry took him to Falchern, Switzerland, the tiny alpine village where his grandfather had been born.

The loving and constant care of Mary-Ann Zenger was integral to Dick’s well being in the last years of his life. The family is grateful to her and grateful for the compassion and professionalism shown to Dick by members of the community Rose Villa, where he and Edna lived since 2012.

Dick is survived by his wife, Edna, his partner for the past 72 years; daughters, Rebecca, Robin, Amy and Mary Ann; daughter-in-law, Gabrielle Francis-Zenger; sons-in-law, Stephen Link and Jack Williams; and grandchildren, Matthew and Ian Loveless and Beatrix and Isobel Zenger. He was preceded in death by his son, John Whitney Zenger; and his son-in-law, Stephen Loveless.

Condolences may be sent to PO Box 68236, Portland, OR 97268. A memorial service will take place at 2 p.m., June 30, 2018, at Rose Villa, 13505 S.E. River Road, Portland.

Douglas Ramsey, a retired FSO and Vietnam prisoner of war, died in Boulder, Nevada on February 23. He graduated from high school at Wasatch Academy in Utah, and received a full scholarship to Occidental College in Los Angeles, graduating summa cum laude in 1956, and became the college’s Rhodes Scholar candidate. Following graduate work at Harvard, he served in the Air Force in Japan.

He entered the Foreign Service in 1956. After initial assignments, he volunteered for service in Vietnam, arriving there after language training in May 1963. His first job was as a branch public affairs officer II Corps. In 1964, Ramsey and another good Vietnamese speaker, USIA officer Frank Scotton, conducted an unprecedented field survey in bellwether Long An province on the status of pacification. Doug was later detailed to AID in war-torn Hau Nghia Province, working for celebrated AID officer John Paul Vann. Vann soon named Ramsey to replace him as chief provincial representative.

On January 17, 1966, while driving refugee supplies to a threatened hamlet, he was captured by VC guerrillas. He suffered from malaria, beriberi, scurvy and occasional starvation. “Seven years and several hundred attacks of malaria later,” he wrote, “I was released.” He was one of the last American prisoners to be freed. Frank Scotton, was first to greet him.

He later served as economic, commercial, and science officer in Taipei; assistant political officer in Beijing; and refugee officer in Kuala Lumpur and Manila. In 1988, he retired owing to disabilities, which included still more malaria. Doug was the recipient of two Superior Honor awards, the State Department award for Valor, and AFSA’s Harriman award for courage, creativity and disciplined dissent.

Following retirement to Nevada in 1988, he contributed to several books and wrote his memoirs. Ramsey wrote that he was “a life-long bachelor with no children (of whom I was aware)”. He was predeceased by his parents and is survived by a number of cousins and numerous friends.

Douglas Ramsey was recently accorded posthumous membership in DACOR. In accordance with his longtime wish, his ashes will be intered in the DACOR section of Washington’s Rock Creek Cemetery.

A public memorial service honoring Douglas Ramsey will be held at DACOR on Friday, October 5, from 3 to 6 p.m. Attendees are asked to e-mail brucekinsey@hotmail.com to reserve a place.

Robert Webb Huddleston (87) passed away on September 11, 2018. Born in East Orange to Surada Webb and Robert E Huddleston, he came to love the Southwest while stationed at Sandia Base as an Army Intelligence officer in 1956.

He graduated from Williams and joined the Foreign Service serving both with the U.S. Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development. His thirty year government career took him to Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro, Freetown, Bamako, and Washington D.C. He and his wife retired to Santa Fe in 2005.

He is survived by his wife Ambassador (ret.) Vicki Huddleston and his children Michele, Stuart, Robert and Alexandra as well as four grandchildren and three great grandchildren.