The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2015

78 JANUARY FEBRUARY 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL and was often invited as a guest speaker at fundraising and other events. In Kolkata, she befriended Mother Teresa and assisted her Missionaries of Charity. In Kampala, she was awarded a Tribute of Appreciation by the Depart- ment of State in recognition of outstand- ing service as headmistress of the Lincoln International School. Mrs. Deer eld continued to shine in private life after she and her husband retired to Florida in 1991. She was an avid gardener, a member of the East Lake Ladies Bridge Club and a president of the Palm Harbor Garden Club. Her Crown of orns, a owering plant native to Madagascar, earned the blue ribbon in the club’s 1995 ower show. She planted bougainvillea in her garden as reminders of her years in South Asia and Africa. She was also active in planning reunions for Mr. Deer eld’s 303rd Bomb Group Association, a World War II veter- ans’ organization, and was honored by the association with a plaque in recogni- tion and appreciation for her many years of dedicated and outstanding service. Mr. and Mrs. Deer eld celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary on Aug. 3. Friends remember her as one-of-a- kind—adventurous, courageous and warm-hearted. Her stepsons recall that she was like a second mother and that she treated them as her own sons throughout her life. Mrs. Deer eld is predeceased by two sons, Scott and Mark, and her parents, Leo and elma Decker. Survivors include her husband, brother, stepsons, four granddaughters and two great- grandchildren. n RuthMerrill “Jody” Foster , 84, wife of the late U.S. Information Agency FSO John P. Foster, died peacefully on Sept. 26 in Seattle, Wash., surrounded by her three children and loving caregivers. Born outside Boston on Nov. 9, 1929, Mrs. Foster spent her childhood in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and Long Island, N.Y., following the untimely death of her father. She attended high school at Lawrence Woodmere Academy inWoodmere, N.Y., and went on to study at Trinity College in Washington, D.C., and e Julliard School in New York, N.Y. Baptized into the Catholic Church as a young girl, along with her widowed mother, Ruth, and two sisters, Mary and Leslie, Mrs. Foster made deep faith the hallmark of her life. She met the love of her life, John Foster, at CBS News in New York City in the early days of television. She worked in the lm library and he in the mailroom. During their 50-year marriage, the couple spent nearly 30 years in the Foreign Service with postings to Greece, Iran, Afghanistan, Ghana, India, Jordan, the Philippines and South Africa. Mrs. Foster served as president of the AmericanWomen’s Club in several coun- tries. She was an active early supporter of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, assisting with their ministry to the poor in India, Jordan and the Philippines. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (Susquehanna County Chapter) for 60 years, as well as e May ower Society. A powerful writer, her 1988 New York Times opinion piece, “At 85, Frightened by a Loss of Power,” chronicled her mother’s descent into Alzheimer’s and prompted a multitude of readers’ response. Several years before her husband’s retirement in 1985, Mrs. Foster took the FS exam, passed and got an o er. e couple debated transitioning so that Mr. Foster would assume the role of trailing spouse; but, ultimately, she decided not to join. In 1985, the Fosters settled in Stinson Lake, N.H., where Mrs. Foster served as Sunday lector in St. Matthew’s Parish in Plymouth. She is remembered for her elegant elocution. She also wrote and recorded commentary for National Public Radio, with stories about country living. In 2001, Mr. and Mrs. Foster moved into her parent’s home in Haverhill, where she remained until 2011. After Mr. Foster’s death, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and moved into assisted liv- ing, rst in Aptos, Calif., and later in the Seattle area. Friends and family remember Mrs. Foster for the parts she played, the places she occupied and the people she touched—and there were many. A won- derful wife and mother, social activist, current events a cionado and devoted listener, she was by avocation a conver- sationalist. As her children put it, she had the gift. Mrs. Foster was predeceased by her husband, John; her parents, Ruth and Harry Fogarty; and her sisters, Mary Brintle and Leslie Nordin. Survivors include three children: Kent (and his wife, Susanne), James (and his wife, Jayne) and Mary Claude (and her husband, Ahmad); nine nieces and nephews; seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Donations in her name may be made to Missionaries of Charity (ATTN: Sr. Maria Auxilia, MC) at 207 Black Diamond Canyon Drive, Gallup NM 87301. n George J. Krieger Jr. , 82, a retired Foreign Service sta o cer, died of lung cancer on Aug. 12, at his home in Potomac, Md. A Philadelphia native, Mr. Krieger began his career as a sportswriter for the Miami Daily News from 1949 to 1953. He moved to the Washington, D.C., area and