The Foreign Service Journal, June 2007

partment as an intern in 1948, and was also an intern of the National Institute of Public Affairs. He went to France in 1951 as deputy special assistant for international relations to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, at NATO military headquarters. After duty at the embassies in Stockholm, Manila, London and Rangoon, where he was chargé d’affaires on occasion, he served in Bangkok as special assis- tant to the secretary general of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization until he retired in 1977. At the State Department he served as officer-in-charge of Swe- dish and Finnish affairs, and as dep- uty director for Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island Affairs. He also served as an adviser to the U.S. delegation to the U.N. General Assembly in 1966. Following retire- ment, he did further work at the State Department. In 1963, Mr. Owen had the unusual experience of delivering a speech in Wilmington, Del., in the name of then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. Owen himself had writ- ten the first draft of the speech com- memorating the 325th anniversary of the founding of the first Swedish colony in America. When the vice president was detained in Washing- ton at a meeting of the National Security Council, he had to deliver it himself. (The episode was written up in the October 1963 Foreign Service Journal .) Mr. Owen was a member of the Metropolitan Memorial United Meth- odist Church, the American Foreign Service Association and Diplomatic and Consular Officers Retired, as well as the SHAPE Officers Association and the Reform Club in London. He is survived by his wife, Ade- laida, of Washington, D.C. Ruth Mortenson Sowash , 86, the widow of FSO William Burton So- wash, died on Jan. 31 in Bath, Maine, following a stroke. Her daughter, Carolyn S. Mitchell, was at her side. Mrs. Sowash was born of Swedish parents in Waukegan, Ill. She received a B.A. in English from the University of Chicago in 1942, and worked for several years as adminis- trative assistant to Robert M. Hutch- ins, then president of the university and an innovative educator. In 1945, she married William B. Sowash, also a University of Chicago graduate, and moved to the Washing- ton, D.C., area when her husband joined the Foreign Service as a politi- cal officer. She accompanied her hus- band to postings in Spain, El Salvador, Guatemala, Argentina and Honduras. Friends and colleagues remember the Sowashes for their gracious hospitali- ty and many volunteer activities. Following her husband’s retirement, Mrs. Sowash worked for several years as a proofreader for the Congressional Indexing Service, and volunteered to read for the blind. The Sowashes moved to Maple- wood Park Place in Bethesda, Md., in 1996, where they participated in many community activities and enjoy- ed new friendships as well as their continuing associations with former colleagues. Mrs. Sowash served as secretary for the Maryland Continu- ing Care Residents’ Association, and her volunteer efforts included knitting infant wear for local charities and making surprise gifts for children hos- pitalized at the National Institutes for Health. The University of Chicago’s Great Books curriculum served Mrs. So- wash well: throughout her life she had wide interests and was an eager learn- er. She enjoyed book clubs, current events lectures and the rich cultural offerings of the Washington, D.C., area. Other interests and accomplish- ments included painting, quilting, golf, bowling, bridge and playing the piano. Friends and family recall her lively intelligence, generous spirit, kind nature and gentle humor. In retirement, the Sowashes con- tinued to travel, and especially en- joyed their many trips to Maine. Mr. Sowash died in 2002 in Bethesda, and in the fall of 2005 Mrs. Sowash moved to Bath to be near her daughter. Ruth Sowash is survived by her daughter, Carolyn S. Mitchell of Washington, D.C., and Portland, Maine; two grandchildren, Wyatt Mitchell of Chicago, Ill., and Emily Mitchell of New Orleans, La.; and six nephews and a niece. Her brother, Carl Walter Mortenson, of Newark, Del., died in 1996. Edith Eliza Van Hollen , 79, the wife of retired FSO and former Ambassador Christopher Van Hollen, died of cancer Feb. 21 at George Washington University Hospital. Mrs. Van Hollen was recognized as one of the top U.S. government for- eign policy and intelligence analysts on Afghanistan and South Asia. A res- ident of Washington and a native of New York City, she was also the moth- er of U.S. Representative Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. After graduating from Vassar College in 1949 with a major in Rus- sian, Edith Eliza Farnsworth worked at the Central Intelligence Agency. She left to attend Harvard University’s Russian studies program, earning a master’s degree in 1953, and then married Christopher Van Hollen of Baltimore, a Foreign Service officer. For 25 years, Mrs. Van Hollen served with her husband in countries J U N E 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 71 I N M E M O R Y