Recent Tributes
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Brooke C. Holmes
Brooke C. Holmes, a career diplomat whose postings spanned continents and decades, died September 10, 2025 of complications related to Parkinson’s disease. He was 86. Loving husband to his wife, Eliana, of more than five decades; beloved dad to his two children, Alexa and Devin; and a devoted “Grandpa” to his four granddaughters, Elise, Adela, Kiara, and Millie.
Brooke earned a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College, a master’s from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and an M.F.A. from Harvard University’s Kennedy School. He joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1966 (after two years in the U.S. Army) and served in a wide array of international assignments, including Rome—where he met his wife, Eliana—Vietnam with USAID, the Bahamas, Athens, and as Consul General in Canada, Nigeria, and the Dominican Republic. He later served as Director of the State Department’s Office for Science and Technology and concluded his career as a senior inspector with the Office of Inspector General after retiring in 2001.
Known for his wit, warmth, and insatiable curiosity, Brooke embraced the cultures of the countries he served in and visited. Even in retirement, he remained an avid traveler, living in Latin America and the Middle East with Eliana and making frequent journeys to spend time with his beloved granddaughters in Africa and in the Pacific Northwest.
Brooke was a mentor to many in the diplomatic corps and held officer roles with the American Foreign Service Association and the Consular Officers Association, where he was respected for his collegiality and commitment to public service.
A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, October 18, at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church, 4201 Albemarle Street NW, Washington, DC. In lieu of flowers, we ask that contributions be made to the Senior Living Foundation of the American Foreign Service (https://www.slfoundation.org/).
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Published by The Washington Post on Oct. 12, 2025.
Duff G. Gillespie
Duff G. Gillespie, a renowned global health leader, respected scholar, and devoted husband, father, grandfather, and brother, passed away at 82 on October 4, 2025.
Born in Cairo, Illinois, Duff studied at Washington University in St. Louis, earning a B.A. in Political Science and both an M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology. He later lived in Kensington, Maryland, with his family.
Duff Gillepie’s stellar career in global health spanned more than 60 years. He joined USAID in 1973 as a health administrator before taking on leadership positions, including chief of the Research Division and director in the Office of Population. He also oversaw the creation of the Global Health Bureau and served as its senior deputy assistant administrator, the senior-most career position in the agency’s health sector. After leaving USAID, he was a Visiting Scholar at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. From 2004 until his passing, he was a Senior Scholar at the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health and Professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
During his three decades at USAID, he laid the foundation for some of the most significant advances in international population and health policy. His leadership was instrumental in shaping U.S. global health strategies and advancing evidence-based programs worldwide. He worked closely with leadership in the United Nations Population Fund, World Health Organization, UNAIDS, European government and non-governmental donor agencies, private foundations and health ministries around the world. He was the recipient of many honors and awards, including USAID Administrator’s Distinguished Career Service Award, the Presidential Rank Award (three times) and the Arthur Flemming Award. He continued to actively develop international projects in global reproductive health while at Johns Hopkins.
His global health policy efforts have established and protected many initiatives that improved public health and nutrition, human development and human rights in low-income countries. Duff was a rigorous thinker, data-driven researcher, generous mentor, and strategic advocate.
Outside of his professional life, Duff was known for his sharp sense of humor, wide-ranging curiosity, and commitment to his family. Duff enjoyed fine dining and was an excellent cook, especially curry and barbecue. He loved British mysteries, high-performance cars, hiking, working out, and, when younger, playing squash.
Duff is survived by his wife, Joanne; his sister, Linda (Carolyn); his sons, Reed and Mark (Jenny); and his grandchildren, who will carry forward his love, guidance and example.
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Thomas Hamlin Reese III
Tom Reese passed away June 23rd, 85 years after his birth in Shaker Heights, Ohio, 1939. Tom will be remembered for his very special character, big smile and enthusiastic support for his family, friends, and professional colleagues.
Tom exemplified the USAID officer of its early years. He joined USAID as a Management Intern in 1967. He came to USAID with a degree in economics from the University of Maryland and a two-year stint with the US Army. As USAID sought to build up the technical expertise of its staff, it sent Tom to the University of Pittsburg for an advanced degree in economics and demography.
With that background, Tom and his growing family departed for Indonesia, 1972-1978. The 1970s was a decade of increased international focus on population issues, with concerns about rapid population growth and its impact on economic development, resource use, and health. Indonesia became a key focus of USAID’s population efforts in Southeast Asia. Tom was particularly engaged with educational campaigns to raise awareness about the benefits of smaller family sizes, contraceptive use, and maternal and child health – as well as demographic studies.
The USAID-backed programs had a significant impact on reducing Indonesia’s population growth rate. By the end of the 1970s, family planning had become a key element of Indonesian development policy. The population growth rate fell from about 2.3 percent annually in the 1970s to about 1.7 percent by the 1990s. The program is recognized as a model for other developing countries, demonstrating the effectiveness of government commitment combined with international support in achieving demographic transitions. Tom was one of a distinguished group of USAID officers and collaborators responsible for this success.
Tom followed his time in Indonesia with an assignment to Egypt in 1979 where he continued his work in the area of population and demography. Recognizing Tom’s growing managerial skill set, USAID appointed Tom as Director of Food for Peace in 1983. Food for Peace was a significant program addressing urgent food crises, but with Tom’s insight, encouragement, and bureaucratic savvy, it began to take on a larger significance within USAID as an important actor in promoting long-term development goals.
At this point, Tom moved into increasingly responsible positions at USAID, Director of the Office for Northern Africa in Washington and then Director of the USAID Mission in Bangkok, Thailand. There Tom joined a forward-looking set of USAID colleagues seeking to link local strengths in areas of science and technology with private sector finance and initiative in the Asia region and with the United States. Tom then retired from USAID in 1992 with the rank of Minister Counselor in the US Senior Foreign Service.
A note on some of Tom’s enthusiasms. He was an avid runner – participating in marathons in Athens, Greece and in Egypt itself, barefoot. He was an adventure traveler, one of his great stories concerning what turned into a dangerous trek at Mount Sinai. And, of course, no remembrance of Tom should leave out his passion for the Washington Redskins, and especially the Super Bowl Victory in 1988
In retirement Tom worked with the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler School of Business on partnerships and projects across Southeast Asia. He relocated to Flagstaff, Arizona where he lived until his death in June. His sons, Tom and Glenn, are fathers to the four grandchildren Tom loved so much.
Lestine Rebecca “Tess” Johnston
Adapted from Tess Johnston, Diplomat Who Helped Preserve ‘Old Shanghai,’ Dies at 93. By Sam Roberts, The York Times, 27 Sep 2025
Lestine Rebecca “Tess” Johnston, a former U.S. foreign service officer who was posted to South Vietnam during the war and documented her experience as a woman there, then spent many years in Shanghai rallying support for the preservation of its vanishing colonial architecture, died on Sept. 14, 2025, in Washington. She was 93.
Her death, from complications of Covid-19 in an assisted living facility, was announced by Tina Kanagaratnam, a founder of the organization Historic Shanghai. Ms. Johnston, Ms. Kanagaratnam and her husband, Patrick Cranley, started the group in 1998, aiming to help safeguard the architecture and culture of Shanghai that predates China’s Communist revolution. In recent years, much of the cityscape has given way to gleaming skyscrapers.
Through her books and lectures, Ms. Johnston called attention to the importance of preserving “the historic city before it changed beyond recognition,” Historic Shanghai said in a statement, adding that “she generously shared her knowledge with a generation of writers, scholars and Shanghailanders.” Ms. Johnston, who had no formal training in historic preservation, focused on Shanghai’s eclectic colonial architecture — its early-20th-century Spanish villas, onion-domed Russian Orthodox churches and Art Deco structures — all built by expatriates from 1842, when China ceded control of the urban core to the British after the First Opium War, until World War II and the Communist takeover in 1949.
Those structures predominated in the French quarter and peppered the American, Russian and Japanese sections of the city. Ms. Johnston documented the architecture on virtually every street. With the Shanghai photographer Er Dong Qiang (also known as Deke Erh), she published “A Last Look: Western Architecture in Old Shanghai,” the first of her two dozen books on architectural history and walking tours, in 1993. She also recorded oral histories and collected a trove of ephemera — cricket cages, phone books, tables with secret drawers. She later donated her archives to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Ms. Johnston, who spoke fluent Mandarin but never lost her Southern accent — she was born in North Carolina — served at the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai from 1981 until she retired in 1996. Having grown to love the city, she then decided to remain there. By the time she returned to Washington, in 2016, few if any foreign residents of Shanghai had lived in the city longer than she had. Of her first impressions of the city, Ms. Johnston once said: “I had never been to a foreign country that looked so utterly and completely Western. It was perfectly preserved, a cross between Warsaw in 1938 and Calcutta, a totally Western city with an Asian population.”
Because the Communist Party was more concerned with doctrine than demolition, she told The Guardian in 1997: “We have the Cultural Revolution to thank for Shanghai’s preservation. Otherwise, we would be 25 years further down the road. There would be nothing left.” Still, she said, when she arrived in Shanghai in 1981, the city’s tallest building was 22 stories, and when she left, there were three skyscrapers taller than the Empire State Building.
She documented her experiences working in Vietnam in a 2018 memoir. Credit…via Historic Shanghai
Lestine Rebecca Johnston was born on Sept. 17, 1931, in Charlotte, N.C., the only child of Lester G. Johnston, who sold petroleum products, and Alma (Yoder) Johnston, who oversaw the home. She grew up in Charlottesville, Va. After graduating from high school, Lestine, who went by Tess, briefly worked for an advertising agency in Richmond, Va. She joined the foreign service in 1953 as a secretary after a relative had tutored her in typing and shorthand.
Ms. Johnston was posted to the American consulate in Düsseldorf, Germany, where she became interested in vintage buildings. She soon returned home to pursue a college degree at the University of Virginia. She wanted to major in architectural history, she said, but found that the subject was not available to undergraduate women. Instead she studied English, history and German literature, earning a bachelor’s degree in education in 1961 and a master’s in German in 1963. She also obtained a master’s degree from the College of William and Mary in 1964.
That same year, she joined the U.S. Agency for International Development in South Vietnam, where she worked as an aide to Wilbur Wilson and John Paul Vann, military advisers to the South Vietnamese Army. She documented her experiences there in “A War Away: An American Woman in Vietnam, 1967-1974,” a 2018 memoir in which she recounted witnessing the Tet offensive by the North Vietnamese and Vietcong in 1968.
Ms. Johnston didn’t hesitate to visit hazardous combat zones. Mr. Vann, she wrote, “loved gutsy females,” and she recalled that when visiting dignitaries were reluctant to accompany him on helicopter tours of the battlefields, he would reply, “My secretaries go out with me all the time.” (Mr. Vann, who became disillusioned with the war and died in a helicopter crash in South Vietnam in 1972, was profiled by the former New York Times correspondent Neil Sheehan in “A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam,” which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1989.)
Following the war, Ms. Johnston rejoined the State Department, serving in New Delhi and Tehran before being transferred to Shanghai in 1981 and named executive secretary to the consul general. Apart from a brief stint in Paris in the late 1980s, she would remain there for 35 years. In 1986, she was named Foreign Service Secretary of the Year for her role in coordinating President Ronald Reagan’s visit to Shanghai.
She left no immediate survivors.
While Shanghai has designated hundreds of buildings as historic landmarks since she began her crusade, other Chinese cities were neglecting their heritage, Ms. Johnston told The New York Times in 1998. “What we learn from history,” she said, “is that we don’t learn from history.” She expressed hope, though, that her books would immortalize Shanghai’s split reputation as “the Paris of the East” and what she called the “wickedest city in the East,” associated with the drugging and kidnapping of American sailors in the 19th century. “Maybe people will look at our books one day and say, ‘So that’s what China looked like,’” she said.
In her mind’s eye, as well as in her books and the nearly century-old buildings she helped preserve, Shanghai’s past lived on. “I found on arrival this perfectly preserved Western-looking city sitting here on the improbable shores of China,” she said in an interview with the Shanghai Daily newspaper in 2010. “Shanghai seems to have something, some mystique that grabs foreigners and makes it hard to leave,” she added. “So I didn’t.”
Sam Roberts is an obituaries reporter for The Times, writing mini-biographies about the lives of remarkable people.
Geswaldo “Joe” Verrone
Geswaldo “Joe” Verrone passed away peacefully at the age of 94 in his home on September 10, 2025. Joe was born on December 28, 1930 in Johnstown, PA. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Andree Verrone, parents Toribio and Perina Verrone as well as his sisters, Jean Patterson, Minnie Bermosk, Corie Sallese and Casey Pfister. Joe is survived by his son Mark Verrone, and daughters Sona Davis (William), and Lisa Bonanno (Robert) and his brother Dr. Anthony Verrone. He was the best friend of his grandchildren, Kevin Davis, Ashley Dakkouni (Larbi), Alexis Davis, Jordan Bonanno and Danielle Bonanno. Joe was a loving Great Grandfather to Farrah Dakkouni and Zayn Dakkouni. He also was a loving uncle to Carol Anne Dzuricky and two nephews Timothy and Eric Pfister.
After achieving his Bachelor’s degree from University of Pittsburgh, he was drafted in the United States Army at the end of the Korean War in 1953 where he served as a Preventative Medicine Technician, his introduction to the Public Health profession. His incredible career included him receiving a Bachelor’s of Science in Zoology-Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree in Public Health in Sanitary Science from the University of North Carolina school of Public Health in 1960. He went on to get his Doctorate in Public Health Administration from Tulane University school of Public Health in 1974. Upon Completion of his training and service in the U.S Army as a Preventative Medicine Technician Joe was selected as district sanitarian for the Anne Arundel County health department in Annapolis, Maryland.
He then was recruited into the World Health Organization where he received additional training in Holland and served as the Chief Sanitarian-medical entomologist in South India. He instituted the first environmental health malaria eradication program in this portion of India.
In 1960 Joe received another foreign assignment in Ethiopia, Africa with the United States Agency for International Development. He developed and published the first Malarial Mosquito classification key for the Ethiopian Empire. Joe was asked by the Minister of Health to design an Ethiopian postage stamp commemorating malaria eradication in the Empire. This stamp was accepted by the Ethiopian government and the World Health Organization in Switzerland and continues to be coveted by stamp collectors throughout the world.
In 1962, Joe returned to the U.S. and received a commission from the U.S Public Health Service and was called to active duty in the Indian Health Service. He developed and implemented a comprehensive environmental health service program for the Native American people living in the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. He was called upon to carry out a special assignment for the IHS so he and his family moved to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
In 1983 Joe was again called upon to take an extended assignment to help with improving and renovating the management structure of the IHS. Joe also served as chairman of the United States Public Health Sanitary Career Development Committee.
Joe received many awards for his excellence in performance and leadership throughout his extensive career. From the USPHS he received a Commendation Medal, a Meritorious Service Award, a commissioned Officer Award, and Outstanding Service Medal. He received a Calvin Wagner Award from the American Academy of Sanitarians. From the University of North Carolina School of public health, he received the Distinguished Service Award along with Most Honorable Alumni. His outstanding career was filled with personal and professional commitment to service of others.
Joe’s legacy will live on in the countless memories of his laughter, warmth, and wisdom. Whether he was sharing stories over a meal with family or offering advice that shaped the lives of those around him, Joe’s sharp mind and generous spirit were ever-present. His love for his children, grandchildren, and friends was unwavering, and he never hesitated to give, whether it was through a home-cooked meal or a word of guidance. Joe leaves behind a wealth of cherished moments and a legacy of knowledge, kindness, and family that will continue to inspire those who were lucky enough to know him. He will be dearly missed but never forgotten.
Friends may call at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church, 917 Montrose Road, Rockville, MD 20852 on Thursday, September 18, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. with Mass of Christian Burial to begin at 10 a.m. Interment Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Silver Spring, MD. To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Published by The Washington Post on Sep. 15, 2025.
Nicholas MacNeil
Nicholas Christopher Howe MacNeil, 85, a retired Foreign Service officer, died at home in Staunton, Va., on May 23, 2025, from complications of Parkinson’s disease. Born on Aug. 31, 1939, in New Jersey, Mr. MacNeil and his sister Elizabeth spent their childhood years in Haiti, where their parents lived from 1947 to 1967. He attended Ridley College, a Canadian boarding school, and then Princeton University, followed by four years in the Navy, including two years on a landing ship, tank (LST).
In 1966 Mr. MacNeil joined the Foreign Service, first serving in Guatemala. Then, after eight months of Vietnamese language training, he went to Vietnam for 18 months as a district adviser with the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Afterward, he earned a master’s degree in public administration at Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Mass., where he met his wife, Linda Blackwelder.
In 1974 Mr. MacNeil was assigned to Danang to report on security conditions. His wife and 8-month-old daughter, Marcia, joined him. In March 1975, the South Vietnamese government collapsed in Danang, and they were among the last to leave. Mr. MacNeil received the State Department Award for Valor for his role in assisting American civilians and Vietnamese refugees to escape from the city.
Mr. MacNeil’s final post was Bogotá. He left the Foreign Service in 1976 to join the Carter-Mondale campaign and became Richard Holbrooke’s assistant in Atlanta. When the Carter transition team moved to Washington, D.C., Mr. MacNeil was asked to be their liaison with NASA. In 1980 he reapplied to the Foreign Service and was assigned to a Vietnamese refugee program based in Bangkok, where his family joined him. They had three more overseas postings: New Delhi, Montreal, and Fiji. He retired in 1996.
In his free time, Mr. MacNeil enjoyed renovating a house in Alexandria, Va. He loved sailing: For two summers, he taught sailing at Fishers Island, and in Fiji, he sailed a Hobie Cat. He went on camping trips with his son, John, to the Canadian Rockies and Pacific Northwest. He loved Haiti and felt that his life had been strongly influenced by the spirit and suffering of that country.
In 2001 Mr. MacNeil and his wife moved to Staunton, Va., where he enjoyed the city’s cultural life and served on the boards of the Valley Conservation Council, the Staunton Kiwanis Club, the Staunton Democratic Committee, and Rail Solution, an initiative to reduce truck traffic on Interstate 81.
Mr. MacNeil was predeceased by his parents, Charles and Barbara MacNeil, and by his son, John, who died in 2020. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Linda Blackwelder MacNeil; his daughter, Marcia, spouse Ricardo Espitia, and their two sons, Timoteo and Ian; his daughter, Laura, and husband Matthew Tolbert; his daughter-in-law, Ruxandra Pond, and her two daughters, Zelda and Isadora; and his sister, Elizabeth Wells.
The Foreign Service Journal, September-October 2025
William John Garvelink
William J. Garvelink’s life was proof that America’s power is measured not in armies, but in the lives it saves.
The USAID family has lost one of its own. For more than three decades, Amb. Bill Garvelink embodied the agency’s highest calling — to show up in the world’s darkest hours with courage, compassion, and resolve. His death is a wound for those who served beside him and for the countless communities his work helped sustain.
On August 20, 2025, the United States lost one of its most steadfast servants. William John “Bill” Garvelink, a career diplomat and humanitarian who carried American values into the hardest corners of the world, died at 76. He leaves behind his wife of 55 years, a partner in every sense of the word, and a family that bore the cost and pride of a life lived in service. His passing is not only a personal loss for them but a loss for America, for USAID, and for all who believe in the work of dignity, democracy, and compassion.
Born in Holland, Michigan, on May 22, 1949, Garvelink grew up in a Dutch-American community that shaped his sense of duty and belonging. After earning degrees from Calvin College and the University of Minnesota, and pursuing doctoral work at the University of North Carolina, he arrived in Washington in 1976 to serve on Congressman Don Fraser’s staff. At a time when human rights barely had a foothold in U.S. foreign policy, Garvelink was one of only two specialists on Capitol Hill. He worked alongside Senator Hubert Humphrey and Senator Edward Kennedy, men whose names define chapters of American history, and from those years he carried forward a conviction that the power of government must bend toward justice.
Garvelink joined USAID in 1979, beginning a three-decade career in which he responded to famine, war, and disaster across five continents. In the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, where he served more than a decade and rose to deputy director, he helped shape U.S. responses to some of the world’s darkest hours. He led Disaster Assistance Response Teams in Somalia during famine, in Rwanda during genocide, and chaired U.S. task forces after the Indian Ocean tsunami. In 1989, with Julia Taft, he helped launch Operation Lifeline Sudan, an unprecedented effort to deliver food across battle lines to starving civilians.
“It was unprecedented. We broke through war lines because people were starving. That was the only calculation that mattered.”
— William J. Garvelink on Operation Lifeline Sudan
That mission saved countless lives and became a model for how America could act not with bombs or threats but with bread and stubborn humanity. He was remembered by colleagues as the man who made the impossible move, the problem-solver when disaster struck.
In 2007, President George W. Bush appointed him US. Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He arrived in Kinshasa at a fragile moment in that nation’s history. Garvelink worked to stabilize a country scarred by years of conflict, pressing for reforms, supporting food security, and coordinating aid that reached people long failed by their own leaders. He understood that democracy in Congo was not an abstraction but the difference between survival and collapse. Those who watched him at work saw not a careerist, but a steady presence, empathetic in action as well as word, who believed America had a duty to walk beside the people of Congo as they rebuilt.
After his ambassadorship, he turned to one of the defining issues of our century: hunger. In 2010 he helped lead the Obama administration’s Feed the Future initiative, a $3.5 billion global program to strengthen agriculture and nutrition. He became the first head of USAID’s Bureau for Food Security, carrying his practical wisdom from refugee camps into global policy.
“Food security is not charity. It is the foundation of stability, dignity, and peace.”
— William J. Garvelink, launching Feed the Future
Later, he advised International Medical Corps, the same organization that had stood with him in Rwanda, Somalia, and beyond. Even in retirement, he never stepped away. He remained, until the end, faithful to the conviction that America’s strength lay in feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and defending the vulnerable.
Garvelink received many awards, including the Presidential Meritorious Service Award. Yet his true honor is written in the lives he touched, the refugees who ate because a convoy arrived, the soldiers in Kisangani trained to serve a people and not just a regime, the millions lifted by food security programs he helped shape. To his family and his colleagues, he was more than his résumé. He was steady. He was principled. He never mistook power for purpose.
Bill Garvelink’s life reminds us that America’s greatness is not in its wealth, not in its armies, but in its ability to care, to act, and to keep faith with the idea that every human being deserves dignity. His passing leaves a space that cannot be filled. His memory is a charge to the rest of us: to rise, as he did, not in fear but in defiance of despair, and to stand with our neighbors, near and far, against the cruelty of this world.
The Last Mile with USAID, Aug. 2025
From Linda Gravelink: Bill’s memorial is scheduled for Saturday October 18, 2025 11am at Falls Church Presbyterian Church, 225 E Broad St (Rt 7), Falls Church City. All are welcome. In lieu of flowers, if you wish, please consider: International Medical Corps; Falls Church Presbyterian, especially the Hunger Fund; Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training (ADST) OR any humanitarian organization close to your heart.
Rodney William Johnson
Rodney William Johnson was born in the small town of Wausa, Nebraska. He grew up on a farm without indoor plumbing and attended a one-room country schoolhouse. At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he majored in agriculture and went on to earn a law degree. The majority of his career was spent as an international development lawyer for USAID, which took him to 72 countries around the world.
Rod was known for his love of family and friends, and that love was reciprocated. They thought Rod took a genuine interest in everything and everyone of all ages, and was one of the world’s best conversationalists. He had a gift for connecting with each person where they were engaging them with new ideas and discussion about almost every subject. He was an excellent listener and deep thinker, which made him a counselor both in his profession and in his personal life. In retirement, Rod lived to experience the outdoors which he dreamed about as a young boy— fishing, kayaking and RV camping. During inclement weather he worked on his music, playing guitar and banjo, singing campfire and cowboy songs, and pursuing his woodworking projects.
Rod was predeceased by his first wife, Kay Rotherham Johnson. He is survived by his wife, Kim Finan; his brother, Terry Johnson; his daughters and sons-in-law, Elizabeth and Juan Font, and Katherine Johnson and Ryan Bhandari; and his grandchildren: Antonio and Nico Font, and Arlo and Ivy Bhandari. His extended family included cherished relationships with his Finan and Johnson nieces and nephews.
Rod passed away suddenly but peacefully in his sleep on August 6, 2025. Although his passing leaves a devastating absence, his loved ones take comfort in the treasured memories of his great wit and good humor, lifelong intellectual curiosity, and infectious spirit. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Sierra Club. Service private. To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Published by The Washington Post on Aug. 24, 2025.
John H. “Jack” Sullivan
John H. “Jack” Sullivan, 90, of Alexandria, Virginia, an international development specialist and civic activist, died at home August 16, 2025, surrounded by family.
Born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1935, he was the son of John E. Sullivan, D.D.S., and Emma (Lay) Sullivan. He served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and Ohio Air National Guard. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from Marquette University (where he met his future wife, Paula) and a doctorate from American University’s School of International Service, which twice honored him as a Distinguished Alumnus.
Jack’s career began as a journalist in Ohio and Wisconsin before moving to Washington in 1961 as an aide to Rep. Clement Zablocki (D-Wis.). He joined the House Foreign Affairs Committee in 1969, contributing to initiatives including the SALT I arms control agreement, aid to Southeast Asia, and the War Powers Resolution of 1973. He served with the U.S. delegation to the U.N. General Assembly and was in the first Congressional staff group to visit China. As Assistant Administrator for Asia and the Pacific at USAID, a presidential appointment in the Carter Administration, he led a bureau of 2,800 employees and a $1.5 billion annual budget, focusing on spreading Green Revolution agriculture and family planning across Asia. He received the Agency’s Superior Honor Award for leadership in equal opportunity. After USAID, Jack spent 33 years with two Arlington-based consulting firms and for more than 23 years was an advisor to the government of the Federated States of Micronesia. He retired professionally in 2015 at the age of 80 after having worked on development issues in some 60 countries.
In 1967, Jack and his young family moved to the City of Alexandria where he became deeply engaged in civic life. Over the decades he served on 11 city boards and commissions—from the Cable Television Commission and the HIV/AIDS Taskforce to the committee that selected the city’s first Poet Laureate. He also led community groups as president of the Seminary Hill Association, co-chair of the Federation of Civic Associations, and co-founder of Democrats for a Better Alexandria. Jack played a central role in the transfer of Cameron Station from the U.S. Army to the City of Alexandria, resulting in the creation of Ben Brenman Park. He also advocated for remediation of the combined sewer system, leading to the RiverRenew Tunnel Project, now under construction, which will divert raw sewage from entering the Potomac River. Jack’s efforts earned him Alexandria’s Ellen Pickering Environmental Excellence Award in 2022 and in 2023 he was named a Living Legend of Alexandria in recognition of his years of public service.
Jack was active in politics from the 1964 Johnson campaign through numerous Alexandria City Council races. He also served on the board of WETA Public Broadcasting and taught courses in political science at the George Washington University and Boston University. For more than 50 years Jack was a member of the “Friday Lunch Group,” which meets fortnightly at venues in Maryland and Virginia. Members hail from Capitol Hill, the military, journalism, and academia. He had chaired the group since 2011. A man of many interests, Jack was a collector of vintage American whiskey jugs and bottles and wrote extensively about the whiskey industry of the pre-Prohibition era for collector publications, winning numerous awards. From 2009 until shortly before his death, he maintained two blogs on history and collectibles, posting more than 1,500 articles that have attracted nearly three million views.
Jack is survived by his wife of 62 years, Paula; sons John of Ithaca, NY and Brian of Alexandria, LA; one grandchild, Emma, and six nieces and nephews. A funeral Mass will take place Saturday, September 20, 2025, at 12 noon at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, 2700 19th Street South, Arlington, VA) followed by a reception to celebrate Jack’s life. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the church’s ministry in Medor, Haiti.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Published by The Washington Post on Sep. 7, 2025.
Bruce Duncan Carlson
Bruce Duncan Carlson, 88, beloved husband of Christel Staedt Carlson, passed away peacefully on July 26, 2025. Born in Wilmington, DE, in April 1937, he was the eldest son of Carl A. Carlson and Charlotte T. Duncan. Known as Pop, Pa, or Opa, Bruce was the quintessential “all-American Jersey boy.” A proud graduate of Penns Grove High School (RE-HI), class of 1955, he was a three-sport athlete and a standout student. His senior year was marked by a once-in-a-lifetime experience: being chosen as a New Jersey delegate to Boys Nation in Washington, DC, where he met President Eisenhower. Bruce followed his father’s path to Harvard, graduating in 1959. The friendships he made there remained vital throughout his life, and reunions were treasured opportunities to reconnect. After college, while working in Baltimore, Bruce met Christel Staedt, a recent arrival from West Germany. Their marriage began a rich, 50+ year journey of shared purpose, love, and adventure. Together with their three children, Bruce and Christel spent 18 years living and working overseas. A dedicated international development professional, Bruce served communities in Peru and Chile (Church World Service), Thailand (USAID), Ghana and Colombia (Ford Foundation), and Venezuela (World Bank).
He concluded his international career as the World Bank’s Resident Representative in Venezuela before returning to the U.S. Between assignments, Bruce earned a Master of Science in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1968. He also worked for the International Planned Parenthood Federation and JHPIEGO at Johns Hopkins University, settling with his family in Princeton, NJ, and later Bethesda, MD. Bruce had an insatiable curiosity and a fearless love of travel—whether navigating remote roads in Thailand during the Vietnam War, Ghana (location of a bloodless 1972 coup), or the Colombian mountains, he approached each trip with the same enthusiasm as a weekend getaway in Vermont. He was a gifted storyteller, master of puns, and devoted sports fan who made friends wherever he went. His warmth and humor left a mark on friends and colleagues in every corner of the world, from Chapel Hill and Colombia to Princeton and Bethesda.
Bruce was a dedicated member of Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church, serving as Elder, Deacon, and usher. He is survived by his sister Ann Carlson; his children Christina Hudson, Roger Carlson, and Amy Sturla; six grandchildren—Katharine Carlson, Bruce Hudson, William Carlson, Lucas Sturla, Duncan Hudson, and Nico Sturla—and one great-grandchild, Heath Hudson. Bruce’s family is deeply grateful for the love and memories shared by all who knew him. The qualities most often mentioned: caring, thoughtful, funny, reliable, sweet, personable, and quick-witted. Memorial plans are pending. Donations in his memory can be made to Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, DC, Inc. To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Published by The Washington Post on Aug. 17, 2025.
Catherine Ann Savino
Cathy Savino, clipper of coupons, aficionado of Law and Order, champion of the underdog and tequila connoisseur, died on Friday, August 1, 2025. Cathy, the oldest of four siblings, was born Catherine Ann Savino on September 25, 1952, to parents Mary and Patrick Savino, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. A true daughter of Connecticut, Cathy attended both Western and Eastern Connecticut State College before beginning her world travels. She lived in Panama, Thailand and Morocco over the next nine years. Upon her return to the U.S., she completed her master’s degree in public health at Emory University, which she reminded us, is “the Harvard of the South”.
Cathy’s first job in public health was for the American Public Health Association. She then joined the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as an institutional contractor, first working on fighting malaria and then on the Patrick Leady War Victims Fund, where her badge read “Cathy Savino, War Victim”. These jobs took Cathy around the world to “off the beaten path” travel destinations. If she visited Paris, London or Rome, it was on her way to Afghanistan, Rwanda or Belarus. By the time she retired she had visited 99 countries. She got her hair washed in 82 of them – it was a Cathy thing. Her specialty was war-torn areas. That, and bringing back gifts for her nephews and nieces. The poster of Daffy Duck with a prosthetic leg and warnings in Vietnamese to avoid landmines was a family favorite.
Cathy loved a bargain and had no compunction about buying a mismatched set of dishes, three glasses out of a set of four or a single steak knife. There was no amount of food too small for a doggie bag. This was offset by her tremendous generosity. She would drive hours to purchase a special Lego set for a nephew, often making friends with the sellers and inviting them to join her family for Thanksgiving dinner – for the next 10 years. She was willing to drive anyone to the airport. At any hour of the day or night.
She is pre-deceased by her sister, Patricia, and survived by a brother and sister, Thomas and Mary, who realized early on they could never live up to her stellar qualities. She loved them very much even when they refused to follow instructions from the first-born. Although her siblings could be obstinate, her nephews and nieces were a joy. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for them including attending endless soccer matches, plays, performances and parties. She went out of her way to find special activities for them. The piranha pedicure is a standout. No toes were lost.
Cathy is also survived by an incredible number of close friends, who cannot be named for fear of missing somebody. But no description of Cathy’s life would be complete without recognizing her lifelong friend, Mary Ellen Hass – her daily confidante, travel companion and soulmate.
Cathy achieved a long time dream in 2020 when she purchased a beach home on the Eastern shore. In typically Cathy fashion, she made friends with all the neighbors in short order and semi-adopted the teen-age summer help. Someone will have to tell the young Ukrainian waitress Cathy befriended that she can’t make their family reunion in Kiev. She struggled with making big decisions so it was with great fanfare that Cathy announced the completed installation of the pool she had always wanted. She enjoyed two weeks with her new pool but took even more pleasure in seeing the photos of her guests enjoying it just last week.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you do something nice for somebody else unexpectedly, and without explanation.
– Cathy and International Aid –
During her early travels, Cathy lived in Thailand for four years. While there she helped implement The Orderly Departure Program office of the U.S. in Bangkok. ODP was created in 1979 under the auspices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as a means for Vietnamese refugees to leave their homeland safely and be resettled abroad. Prior to the implementation of ODP, tens of thousands of Vietnamese were fleeing via boat. Under the ODP, from 1980 until 1997, 623,509 Vietnamese were resettled abroad of whom 458,367 went to the United States.
Upon her return to the States and completion of her master’s degree, Cathy began her distinguished career with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the early 1990s. Over the course of more than three decades, she played a pivotal role in the Agency’s work through a series of institutional contracts that supported Congressional earmarks. Her work had a profound and lasting impact on some of the world’s most vulnerable populations—civilian victims of war, persons with disabilities (including wheelchair users), vulnerable children, and survivors of torture and trauma.
In close collaboration with USAID official Lloyd Feinberg, she played a pivotal role in the design and implementation of one of the Agency’s earliest institutional support contracts, a model that set the standard for countless similar agreements over the next 35 years. As a contract project director, Cathy possessed a remarkable talent for turning ideas into action, advancing initiatives with determination and meticulous attention to detail. Her ability to translate vision into reality made her an indispensable partner to forward-thinking USAID leadership.
Cathy’s contributions were especially influential in support of the Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund, a Congressional earmark dedicated to assisting civilian victims of conflict and other persons with disabilities worldwide. Through these early institutional mechanisms, her work contributed to USAID’s ability to mobilize critical expertise, technical consultancies, and logistical support. This, in turn, helped catalyze pioneering advancements in the global field of assistive technology, setting new standards for the provision and maintenance of prosthetics, orthotics, and wheelchairs in conflict-affected regions.
An expert in the complexities of USAID contracting, Cathy was widely respected not only for her technical mastery, but also for her unwavering commitment to learning. She continually honed her skills through advanced training and coursework, ensuring she remained a trusted resource in the ever-changing field of federal government contracting.
Beyond her technical expertise, Cathy was an exceptional mentor and leader. She guided, supported, and empowered numerous administrative staff, consultants, and technical professionals throughout her career. Her deep institutional knowledge, strategic foresight, collaborative spirit, and innate generosity earned her the admiration of colleagues and the affection of those she supervised.
Cathy’s legacy is one of dedication, innovation, and compassion. Her contributions have left an indelible mark on USAID’s work and on the lives of countless individuals in developing countries around the world.
Patty S. Gerlach
It is with great sadness that we announce Patty S. Gerlach, age 84, died on Monday, August 4, 2025, unexpectedly from medical complications in Fairfax, VA.
Patty was born on May 22, 1941, in Washington, DC to Donald and Elizabeth Surine.
She is survived by her husband of 58 years, Ret. Lt. Col. Howard “Larry” Gerlach; her brother, William Surine and sister-in-law, Mary Ann Surine; her children, Travis Gerlach and Megan Bash; her son-in-law Jeremy Bash and Jeremy’s son Drew. She was also the beloved grandmother to Therese Gerlach and Robert Bash.
She graduated from Bethesda Chevy Chase High School in 1956 and continued her studies at Georgetown University. Subsequently, she completed an AA Degree in California. Patty for many years was a valued employee at the Postmaster General’s Office at the United States Post Office in Washington, DC and the Agency for International Development.
A viewing will take place on August 8, 2025, from 4 to 7 p.m., at Fairfax Memorial Funeral Home, 9902 Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA. A funeral mass will be celebrated on August 9, 2025, 12 p.m., at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 5121 Woodland Way, Annandale, VA. The interment will be at a later date. To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Published by The Washington Post on Aug. 7, 2025.
D. Bruce Kellogg
With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of D. Bruce Kellogg of Washington, DC on July 23, 2025. He was born in Boston, MA, on July 20, 1943, and grew up in New England. He attended Boston University where he earned his undergraduate degree in History and a Graduate degree in Secondary Education. An adventurous spirit, he joined the Peace Corps and served in Afghanistan where he met his wife GulGhutai. Bruce was committed to public service, and spent his career working for the United Seamen’s Service, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Corporation for National and Community Service. In addition to Afghanistan, he worked in Iran, Germany, Guam, Japan, Thailand, Sudan, and Korea. Bruce and GulGhutai ultimately settled in Washington, DC where they raised their three children: Sarah, Makai, and Alan. He was an avid reader, traveler, gardener, and stamp collector. He is survived by his wife, children, and granddaughter.
A memorial service will take place at the Friends Meeting of Washington on September 28, 2025, at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you make donations in his name to the PBS Foundation. The donation form requires an email address. Please feel free to use your own email if you do not have ours. PBS Foundation: https://foundation.pbs.org/donation/ To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Published by The Washington Post on Aug. 5, 2025.
Richard Hale Fischman
Richard Hale Fischman, 85, of Garrett Park, Maryland, died on July 4, 2025, with his wife, Christine, by his side.
Richard was born on April 5, 1940, in Brooklyn, New York, the only child to David Fischman and Pearl Elman. He grew up in Brooklyn, playing stickball on East 10th Street, cementing a lifelong love of baseball and the Brooklyn Dodgers. He played competitive tennis across New York City in his youth and continued to find joy on the court throughout his life. Shaped by his time at the Brooklyn Ethical Culture School and Midwood High School, he went on to attend George Washington University, where he studied Business and Public Management.
In his 20s, Richard worked for USAID across various assignments in Africa. After obtaining a Master’s Degree in Urban Affairs from The University of Wisconsin, his professional focus was on housing equality. In the 1970s he worked for the Urban Redevelopment Task Force in Kansas City, MO. Richard’s management and negotiation skills led to a career transition to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board in Topeka, KS and then onto the Resolution Trust Corporation as a Resolutions Specialist during the banking crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. In 1994, Richard began working for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in Washington, DC as the Assistant Director of Resolutions. After retirement from the FDIC, Richard became an International Banking Advisor with the U.S. Department of the Treasury with assignments in Serbia and Turkey. Richard returned to the FDIC to support the banking crisis from 2008-2012.
Beyond his career, Richard was a loving and generous man, with a genuine curiosity for the people and world around him. Everyone in his life could count on his willingness to offer guidance and support when asked, bringing his wide-ranging and deep knowledge of the world and history into a wise and level-headed conversation, regardless of the subject. His love of travel took him around the world and he was always willing to share a bite of whatever delicious treat he found along the way. He shared a second home in his wife’s hometown of Shelbyville, IN where he loved and was beloved by her seven sisters and their many children and grandchildren.
He is survived by his wife, Christine; their daughter Alison (Elliot), children Diane and Mark (Rie), stepchildren Jason and Carriann; grandchildren Kezia, Jude, Karina, Corey, Dante, Aja, and Roxanne. Richard was preceded in death by his adored Aunt, Beatrice Sacks. His loss will be felt by many more close friends and family. Memorial service date to be announced. To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Published by The Washington Post on Jul. 29, 2025.
James Beebe
Stanley Davis Heishman
Born Sept 28, 1932, in Washington, DC. On July 9, 2025, Stan left this world with his beloved wife of 69 years, Adrienne, at his side. He leaves behind daughter Stacey Lee Mosley, son-in-law Norman, son Paul and wife Alicia, and son John and his wife Pam. Also grandchildren Christopher, Alexandra, Lucas, Nicholas, and Daniel, beloved caregiver Beatrice, and grand dogs Brodie and Gracie.
He received his degree at UVA, had an early career with Dun & Bradstreet, US Army Intelligence Corp, and Dept of Navy. His career as the Contracting Officer for USAID took him to postings in Barbados, serving the West Indies, Manila, the Philippines, and several posts in Africa. He was an excellent tennis player and bridge player and ardent “Redskins” fan. With his wife he traveled extensively and loved cruising.
Visitation will be held at National Memorial Park, 7482 Lee Hwy, Falls Church, VA on Tuesday, July 15, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with interment immediately following. To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Published by The Washington Post on Jul. 13, 2025.
Peter Benedict
Author, International Development Expert Peter Benedict, Ph.D., a senior program director with RTI International and former career foreign service officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), died of cancer May 16, 2006, at The University of North Carolina Medical Center in Chapel Hill. He was 67.
Since 2003, Dr. Benedict had served as senior program director and country manager for the Iraq Local Governance Program, which RTI is implementing for USAID. During 2003 and 2004, Dr. Benedict spent 18 months in Iraq as RTI’s chief of party for the project, overseeing local governance support operations throughout Iraq. In 2005, he became technical manager for the project and based at RTI’s Research Triangle Park campus.
Prior to joining RTI, Dr. Benedict had a 23-year career with USAID that included assignments as mission director, during which time he led and managed the U.S. government’s foreign assistance programs in Mauritania, Niger, Cameroon and Zimbabwe, and several senior positions at USAID Headquartersin Washington, D.C. He authored and edited several books and articles on economic and social development in the Middle East.
He began his career as a researcher and university professor at the University of Chicago, where he earned a master’s degree in social anthropology and a doctorate in economics and anthropology. Before joining USAID in 1976, Dr. Benedict supervised a number of humanitarian programs for the Ford Foundation in Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates.
After retiring from USAID, he served as an executive with Family Health International in Durham and later with Chemonics International, before joining RTI International.
Dr. Benedict is survived by his first wife, Cordelia Dahlberg Benedict of Chicago, and his current wife, Page of Raleigh; four children, Peter Alexander Benedict of Maplewood, NJ, Elisabeth B. Long of Olympia, WA, Timothy Benedict of Franklin Grove, IL, and Katherine Browning Benedict of Raleigh; granddaughter, Harper Poppy Long.
A memorial service will be held 9 a.m. Saturday, May 20, 2006, at Saint Michaels Episcopal Church on Canterbury Road in Raleigh. A memorial scholarship fund has been established for deserving freshmen at the University of Chicago in memory of Dr. Benedict; contributions can be made to: Pooled Scholarship Fund in Memory of Peter Benedict. Condolences may be made to the family at www.brownwynne.com. To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Published by The News & Observer on May 18, 2006.
Agatha Gwendolyn Brown
Agatha Gwendolyn Brown, who was born on August 5, 1947, in Washington, DC, died on February 10, 2025, in Largo, Maryland, at 77 years old. She was a long-time civil servant working in a variety of administrative positions in AID/W, including as an assistant to the USAID Counselor.
Gloria J. Greene Blackwell
Gloria J. Greene Blackwell died on October 25, 2024, in Odenton, Maryland. She was born on December 16, 1950, in Greenville, North Carolina, to Johnnie and Dora House Greene (deceased). She attended Simpson Elementary School, and G.R. Whitfield High School in Grimesland, North Carolina. Education was a key component of her life. She was committed to learning and growing. Gloria earned degrees from Fayetteville State University, Bachelor of Science (Sociology), and Trinity University, Master’s Degree (Employee Assistance Counseling). She also received an Equal Employment Opportunity (Certificate) from Cornell University and took master’s degree courses at George Washington University.
As the Bible says in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Gloria’s Christian attributes were as bright as the sunshine and sparkled like the stars! Gloria was an example of quiet strength. Living her purpose, she availed herself to serve others in communities and during her 30-year federal government career in the U.S. Agency for International Development, most of which was in the EOP (EEOC) Bureau as a counselor. She married Larry Blackwell (deceased) in 1986 and embraced her role respecting, loving, and supporting her husband. Gloria was generous. She loved to praise God and glorify Jesus! Also, Gloria loved her family and friends, enjoyed cooking delicious meals, traveling, shopping, and watching football.
Gloria is preceded in death by her parents, Sisters: Novella Gumbs, Doris Adams, Dennie Jones, Janie Greene, Leona Richards, Brothers: Donald Greene, Willie Greene, Wilbert Greene, and Stanely Greene.
Leaves to cherish memories, Sisters: Mary Isler (Frederick), Kinston, NC; L’Tange Alexander, (Ron), Southampton, NJ; Barbara West -Davis (Jerome), Baltimore, MD; Anette Blackwell (sister-in-law) Brothers: Howard Malleary (Felica), Greenville, NC; Martina Adams (brother-in-law), Greenville, NC. and Samuel Whitfield (brother in Christ), Staten Island, NY; nieces, nephews, and other relatives and friends.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Gloria J. Greene Blackwell, please visit our flower store. Beall Funeral Home, 6512 Crain Hwy., Bowie, MD 20716.
Timothy Joseph Bork
Timothy Joseph Bork passed away on June 7, 2025, after a courageous battle with glioblastoma, faced with the same strength and selflessness that defined his life. He is survived by his closest companions-his wife, Shigeko Bork, and his daughter, Skye Bork.
Timothy was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, on March 9, 1943, and grew up in Rockford, Illinois. He graduated with a B.A. from Lake Forest College, and received a J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law, and an LL.M from Georgetown University Law Center.
Timothy devoted his life to justice and dignity-first as a civil rights attorney in Georgia, and later across Africa, where he shaped U.S. foreign assistance with courage and unwavering moral clarity. As USAID’s Mission Director in South Africa during apartheid, he implemented the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act not from a desk, but “sitting on a cardboard box,” listening to Black leaders and channeling U.S. aid to those most oppressed, insisting, “This money is in trust for you-tell us what to do with it.” From advancing legal reform to linking hands with Africa’s human rights defenders, he led with empathy, earning trust in places where America’s word alone wasn’t enough.
He was an avid sportsman, most at home on the basketball courts of Miami, Tokyo, and Georgetown, on the ski slopes of Aspen, or in the audience watching Skye perform ballet.
As a husband, father, and fierce advocate for justice, Timothy will be most remembered for leading his life with love and generosity.
To attend his memorial on June 18, 2025, please email shigekobork@gmail.com.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Published by The Washington Post on Jun. 16, 2025.
Barton “Barry” Veret
Barton “Barry” Veret, born on June 24, 1935, died peacefully of natural causes on June 6, 2025 surrounded by his loved ones. He attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School and spent most of his career working for the State Department Agency for International Development and living in the Washington, DC area. He was a philosopher with a curious mind, loved nature, and was a writer. He has three published original works of fiction and wrote thoughtful poetry as well. He is survived by his wife Nancy Veret; his two stepdaughters Leslie Strittmatter (husband Rob Strittmatter) and Linda Kobrin (husband Gary Greenblatt), and his three grandchildren and one great grandchild. He is also survived by his two sisters Linda Rindler and Judy Hoberman (husband Larry Hoberman) and his six nieces and nephews. No donations are being accepted. To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Published by The Washington Post on Jun. 15, 2025.
Stephen Klein
Stephen Klein died on May 28, 2025, at age 89 after a brief illness. He was a loving father, grandfather, brother, public servant, and civil rights advocate. He faced his death as he lived his life, with tenacity, warmth, and good humor, surrounded by family and friends.
Born in Newark, New Jersey on February 20, 1936, to Elmer Klein and Sylvia Finkenberg Klein, Stephen had two brothers, Paul and David, to whom he stayed close for his entire life. At age five, Stephen’s family relocated to Chicago, where he promptly got lost wandering in the Chicago Zoo. He spent the rest of his childhood growing up in Highland Park, rooting for the White Sox, becoming an accomplished golfer, and spending time with a gang of close friends, including Sheldon Baskin and Alan Rappaport who became lifelong friends.
In 1958, Stephen graduated from Cornell University alongside his friend and fraternity brother Joel “Bergs” Bergsman. At Cornell, Stephen majored in Political Science and Government, where he was the captain of the golf team. He made the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship that year, losing on the second-to-last hole to eventual champion Phil Rodgers. After college, Stephen went on to earn an MBA from the University of Chicago and later a Masters in Economics from American University.
For the majority of his adult life, Stephen lived in Washington D.C. Called to public service after graduating from business school, he joined the U.S. Agency for International Development in 1963 and worked in a variety of roles focused on development and energy policy with a focus on renewable energy and energy efficiency until 1991. He served as a loan officer in Nigeria in the late-1960s, then transferred to the US AID domestic service in the 1970s to be an involved father to sons Abram and Sam, who has special needs, and step-daughter Niani. During this time Stephen travelled frequently to Ethiopia working on development projects, then became an expert on deforestation, energy and environmental issues in developing countries as AID’s Energy Policy Advisor. His friends recall him talking about the coming salience of global climate change as society’s next great challenge before most people had ever heard of global warming or the greenhouse effect. In 1985, Stephen transferred back to the Foreign Service, leading AID’s Energy and Natural Resources Division in Morocco, where he helped establish a new Moroccan Renewable Energy Institute and led Energy Policy and Energy Efficiency technical assistance to transform Moroccan energy policy toward increased reliance on abundant renewable energy resources. Whether in Morocco, Nigeria or elsewhere, Stephen made friends easily with local officials and their families; sometimes on the golf course and frequently over conversation-laden meals. In Morocco, Stephen insisted that his home staff not speak English to better develop his French skills, and after retiring he continued to take French lessons until his passing, periodically travelling back to Morocco or France to visit. His Moroccan house-keeper Kadisha became a devoted friend. After leaving AID, Stephen worked for the next year as a member of the U.S. delegation for the worldwide U.N. Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, which established the international diplomatic process to address the climate crisis. Stephen subsequently worked part-time as an international development consultant.
Stephen’s commitment to advocacy and justice extended throughout his life, even outside his work at AID — from marching against the war in Vietnam, to advocating for Jewish safety and Palestinian rights as a member of J Street, to supporting the Adams Morgan neighborhood’s development, to serving as a board member of the Hill Country Project, which records histories of grassroots activism in rural America, until his death. Stephen held elected office on the Advisory Neighborhood Commission in D.C. and also served on the District’s Redevelopment Land Agency. In his retirement, he tutored children in reading every week. He was a co-author of Voices from the Mississippi Hill Country: The Benton County Civil Rights Movement, published in 2020, which won the Book of the Year award from the Mississippi Historical Society in 2024, and remained active in community affairs, including traveling to Mississippi in his final weeks as part of his democracy education work.
Most importantly, Stephen was a present, supportive, and unconditionally loving father and grandfather. Parenting his two sons, Abram and Sam, and his stepdaughter, Niani, was a focal point for Stephen’s life, and he took on new responsibilities and joys in his time as a grandparent. Stephen’s younger son Sam lives in a group home for developmentally disabled adults in Southern Maryland, and Stephen was his cheerleader, advocate, and fiercest supporter, visiting him every week of his life. He was cherished by all three of his children and always considered Niani a daughter rather than a stepdaughter.
As a grandparent to Eliza, Jeremy, Danny, Zion, and Aliyah, Stephen traveled to ultimate frisbee tournaments, viola recitals, track meets, and school plays to enthusiastically cheer on his grandchildren, and took great interest in their pursuits. When Eliza worked at an environmental advocacy non-profit, he closely read the organization’s 32 page policy memo and then wanted to discuss it in detail. He loved to talk politics with Jeremy and hear stories about Danny’s frisbee team. He was a daily presence in Zion and Aliyah’s lives as they shared a home; he made them french toast every Sunday, shuttled them to school and activities, and took pride in their accomplishments. As a present and loving godparent to Sasha and Marcus, he taught them to ride bikes, traveled with them to France and Spain, and ate dinner together each Sunday, where they read Harry Potter after dinner and he always fell asleep.
Stephen loved birdwatching, gardening, jigsaw puzzles, ice cream, golf, reading the newspaper (especially the sports section which he read daily starting with the Chicago Sun Times at age five), cooking with his wok, making french toast on Sundays, and democracy. He was notorious in the Crestwood neighborhood for walking his enormous Great Pyrenees dogs, Boris and later Beau. He loved to talk about politics and energy policy with his grandchildren, who reported that “once he got going, he wouldn’t stop.” He welcomed guests in his home for long and short term stays, from friends and family members who lived with him for years to his grandchildren’s college classmates camping out in sleeping bags on his floor when they traveled to D.C. for protests. He had so many friends who loved him, and had a wonderful ability to build relationships across age, race, gender, and nationality, including unique, ongoing and loving relationships with former partners Jeanie Lujan and Audrey Rowe, and with Sam and Abram’s mom, Helen Marek. In his final weeks, he saw a revolving door of visitors who expressed how much he meant to them.
Stephen’s strong will, patience, good humor, attention to detail, dedication, and unwavering support for his loved ones were present even in his final days. He is survived by his sons Abram and Sam Klein; his daughter-in-law Debbie Klein; his son-in-law Xris Omotesa; his grandchildren Eliza, Jeremy, and Daniel Klein and Zion and Aliyah Omotesa; his brothers David and Paul Klein (and his sisters-in-law Evelyne and Natalie Klein); his chosen family and godchildren Lynn, Sasha, and Marcus McNair; his former spouses Audrey Rowe and Helen Marek; his dear friend Jeanie Lujan; and many adoring nieces and nephews. He is predeceased by his stepdaughter Niani Omotesa and his parents Sylvia and Elmer Klein. He was proud of his family and his career, and in his final days, expressed feeling immensely content with his life and grateful to have found such fulfillment and meaning. We will miss him so much.
Please join us for Stephen’s memorial service on Friday June 6th at 10:30 AM at the Hines-Rinaldi Funeral Home at 11800 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD. Following the service will be a shiva/reception on-site where friends and loved ones can gather in Stephen’s memory.
In lieu of flowers, his family asks that you donate to the “Sam’s Dad” Fund Fund at The Arc Southern Maryland. Stephen’s son, Sam, is supported by The Arc. Your gift will help continue the work that meant so much to Stephen — ensuring individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are seen, valued, and empowered every day. You can donate online here using the link below. https://form-renderer-app.donorperfect.io/give/the-arc-of-southern-maryland/sams-dads-fund If you’d rather give a check, you can mail it to The Arc SoMD, P.O. Box 1860, Prince Frederick, MD 20678.
Vincent Cusumano (July 29, 1943 – May 19, 2025)
With deep sadness we want you to know that Dr. Vincent Cusumano from Springfield Illinois passed away at his home on May 19, 2025, in the presence of his beloved wife Luisa Cusumano, his children Rosanna, Paul, and their families.
Vincent Cusumano, born on July 29,1943, in Montevago, Italy, was retired from the US Foreign Service after a career with the Agency for International Development (USAID).
He served as an agricultural economist for development programs in South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Washington, DC. He began his international life as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Chile, where he met and married his wife the love of his life of 57 years, Luisa Cusumano.
Vincent will be greatly missed by family his two brothers and their families, grandkids and his many close friends, who enjoyed his pleasant, supportive, kind approach to life. He was a caring role model of a brother, uncle, family man, grandfather, a wonderful friend, a humanitarian, and a gentleman.
He leaves a legacy two amazing families and four grandkids who are now
college and soon to be high school graduates.
A celebration of life for family and close friends will be held in the near future. In lieu of flowers, donate to the Cancer Association or please send cards, photos, and memories to Luisa at 19355 Cypress Ridge Ter, Apt 408, Leesburg, VA 20176.
We ask that all who knew him to remember him in your own way on July 29th or eat a bowl of your favorite ice cream since to his grandkids he was known as the ice cream man.
—The Cusumano family
Irving M. Destler
I.M. “Mac” Destler, Scholar, Teacher, and Devoted Public Servant, Dies at 85.
I.M. “Mac” Destler, a distinguished scholar of American foreign policy, devoted public servant, and beloved husband and father, died peacefully in his home in Woburn, Massachusetts, on March 27, 2025. He was 85.
Born in Statesboro, Georgia, on August 21, 1939, Mac was the proud son of Chester McArthur Destler and Katharine Hardesty Destler. Following his father’s politicized firing at Georgia Teachers College, young Mac moved north with his family and settled in New London, Connecticut, where he lived through high school. After graduating from Harvard University in 1961, Mac followed President Kennedy’s call for service, joining the US Peace Corps as a Volunteer in the program’s first year and teaching at the newly-established University of Nigeria.
Mac moved to Washington, DC in 1965 after earning his MPA from Princeton University. He worked for then-Senator Walter Mondale before moving to the Executive Branch, serving on Johnson’s Task Force on Government Organization before taking a position at the US Department of Agriculture focused on international development at the onset of the green revolution.
These early experiences gave Mac an insider’s view of policymaking. A Council on Foreign Relations fellowship enabled him to reflect on those experiences and hone his analysis, laying the groundwork for a PhD from Princeton University, the publication of his first book, Presidents, Bureaucrats and American Foreign Policy, and a career dedicated to understanding the institutional, organizational and political dimensions of policymaking. In doing so, he became, in his own words, “a bit of an anomaly” – taking “cabs to Capitol Hill … while others were doing research around the world.”
Through work “thinking in several tanks” (Brookings Institution, the Carnegie Endowment for Peace, and the Peterson Institute for International Economics), he built a reputation as an expert on US-Japan Relations, U.S. trade politics, and White House decision-making. Along the way, he authored or co-authored 14 books, including American Trade Politics, which received the Gladys M. Kammerer Award for the best book in U.S. National Policy from the American Political Science Association in 1987.
Mac believed deeply in institutions, studying them and investing time on the ground to make them thrive. After joining the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy faculty in 1987, he quickly became a central figure in the life of the school—recruiting colleagues, running programs, serving twice as interim dean, and above all, fostering a generation of students committed to public service. He lent the same commitment to Immanuel Presbyterian Church, where he sang tenor in the choir for 40 years.
He also believed deeply in people. Mac was a dedicated teacher and generous advisor, a cherished mentor and colleague to those who worked and wrote alongside him. And he loved his family, proudly telling stories of his mother and father to all who would listen, cherishing his siblings—Paul, Anne and Bill—and taking particular joy when his younger brother Bill became his “boss” as Provost at the University of Maryland.
He was immensely proud of “the warm, witty love” of his life, Harriett Parsons Destler, highlighting her world-traveling ways and her crucial work on development and program planning at the US Agency for International Development. They enjoyed parallel careers and a decades-long partnership following a serendipitous meeting in Mt Tremblant, Canada. Mac quietly supported his son and daughter, seldom telling them what to do but loudly proclaiming their professional and personal accomplishments. And he loved children—especially babies and toddlers—whether his own grandsons or the children of students, colleagues and others who crossed his path.
In addition to his wife Harriett, Mac is survived by his son Mark and daughter Kate (Johann Neem); his brother, William (Bill) Destler (Rebecca Johnson); and his three grandchildren, Rylan (18), Avery (14), and Griffin (8), each of whom brought him profound joy and pride. He delighted in their growth, their curiosity, and their place in the world that he sought to shape for the better.
He will be remembered for his sharp mind, generous spirit, and enduring belief in the power of public service to improve the world. His legacy lives on in the many students he mentored, the ideas he shaped, and the family he loved so deeply.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 14 at 2 p.m. at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in McLean, Virginia. In lieu of flowers, the family invites contributions to Mac Destler’s Washington, a fund to help launch future generations of public servants and policy scholars into meaningful work in Washington, DC.
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Published by The Washington Post on May 25, 2025.
Bruce Stader
(Died in February 2025, no obituary yet)
Stephen Hall Grant
Stephen H. Grant, 84, of Arlington, Virginia, passed away peacefully at home on April 12, 2025.
A retired Foreign Service Officer, Steve led a life marked by global service, scholarship, and a deep appreciation for the arts.
Born in Boston, Steve graduated from Noble & Greenough School in Dedham, MA, and later from Amherst College, in Amherst, MA. He earned a masters degree from Middlebury College, VT, following a formative year at the Sorbonne in Paris. He completed his doctorate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, specializing in international education.
Steves career began with the Peace Corps, teaching in Sassandra, Ivory Coast. He went on to consult for the Academy for Educational Development, with assignments in Washington, D.C., and Abidjan, Ivory Coast. His distinguished tenure with USAID included posts as education and training officer in Ivory Coast, Egypt, Guinea, Indonesia, and El Salvador, as well as in Washington, D.C. headquarters. He also worked as an educational consultant for UNESCO in Paris and Abidjan. In Massachusetts, he was certified to teach and spent five years in the classroom.
An avid historian and author, Steve published three books of social history using vintage picture postcards, highlighting life in Indonesia, Guinea, and El Salvador. His work was featured in USAID FrontLines.
In retirement, Steve volunteered as a senior fellow at the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) in Arlington from 2004 to 2018, where he edited oral histories and diplomatic memoirs and lectured on African culture at the Foreign Service Institute. His biography Peter Strickland (New Academia, 2007) was recognized as an “ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Diplomacy Book,” with a launch at DACOR and forewords by Ken Brown and Michael Ely. His second biography, Collecting Shakespeare: The Story of Henry and Emily Folger (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014), brought to light the lives of the founders of the Folger Shakespeare Library and was the subject of a Newberry Cultural Series Lecture at DACOR.
Steve was deeply involved in his community, particularly through Arlington Neighborhood Village, where he spoke to Aging-in-Place groups about how he modified his beloved 1926 Arlington homeof which he was only the second owner.
Music was a lifelong joy. From church choirs to Gilbert & Sullivan operettas and double-quartet harmony in high school, Steves voice carried across continents. At Amherst, he sang in the Chapel Choir and toured Europe with the Smith-Amherst Chamber Singers, performing in Chartres Cathedral, a candle-lit Renaissance theater in Vicenza, and enjoyed post-concert spaghetti with Gian Carlo Menotti in Spoleto. He later performed Carmina Burana in an 1821 Dutch opera house in Jakarta and sang with Encore Creativity’s senior chorale in Washington, D.C., as well as on tours through Canada, Cuba, the Danube, and the Mediterranean.
Steve is survived by his children, Yonel and Sylviane; his granddaughter, Gabriela; his partner, Abigail Wiebenson; and his former spouse, Annick.
Hannah Maxine Baldwin
Hannah Maxine Baldwin passed away on November 7, 2024, in Takoma Park Maryland, at the age of 78. The cause of death was congestive heart failure, which was a complication of her bone cancer from over 30 years ago.
Hannah was born in Stayton, near Salem, in Oregon. Her parents, Clarence Richard Baldwin father, and June Helen (Sophy) Baldwin mother, are both deceased, as is her beloved younger sister Rachel. She is survived by her husband Felipe Tejeda; her daughter Malado Francine Baldwin-Tejeda; her son Francisco Richard Baldwin-Tejeda; two brothers, Daniel and Samuel; and several nieces and nephews. She leaves behind several adopted African sons, daughters, brothers and sisters in Senegal, Guinea, Mali and Namibia, as well as African grandchildren bearing her name.
Ms. Baldwin, with a Ph.D (abd) from Indiana University’s Folklore Department, spent many years living and working world-wide as a development professional, focusing her time in Senegal, Mali, and Guinea as a USAID program director. She served as a director of training for diplomats in francophone studies at the US Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute, and in Namibia as Peace Corps Director.
Hannah met her husband Felipe in Senegal as Peace Corps Volunteers in 1969, and lived and worked there for seven years, gaining a passionate love for her new-found friends. She spoke French and Wolof well, loved mafe and yassa, and listened and danced to mbalax music.
Hannah came from a family of creatives and continued throughout her life to add to her repertoire of artistic talents. She was primarily a print maker, ceramicist, and painter.
The Baldwin-Tejeda family is holding a memorial service at their home in Takoma Park, MD on May 3 and 4, 2025. In lieu of flowers or gifts, we ask you to consider donating to a Senegal-based NGO, Tostan (Tostan.org), which works in West Africa and was dear to Hannah’s heart.
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Published by The Washington Post on May 1, 2025.