The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2017

84 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2017 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FORUM sent out 9,000 questionnaires, asking people overseas to assess the impact of the Foreign Service on family members in those five clusters of concern. Based on the replies, the “Report on the Concerns of Foreign Service Spouses and Families” was presented to Secretary of State Cyrus Vance in March 1977. The report contained 11 recommenda- tions, the second of which was to establish the Family Liaison Office. Sec. Vance responded personally to the recommen- dations, the FLO proposal in particular: “The concept is a good one and I support it... I believe that we should establish FLO or its equivalent with all deliberate speed.” Mrs. Dorman understood that the goal of AAFSWwas to insert a non-bureau- cratic office into a bureaucratic structure. As Mette Beecroft recalls in a September tribute from the AAFSWBoard: “We used to say, ‘The FLO is in the bureaucracy but not of the bureaucracy.’” Further reflecting her keen under- standing of State Department bureau- cratic realities, Mrs. Dorman insisted that the new Family Liaison Office be admin- istratively placed directly under the Under Secretary for Management, rather than at a lower level. She pursued numerous conversations with the Secretary of State, the Under Secretary for Management, the Director General of the Foreign Service and the Directors of USAID and USIA to ensure that their agencies’ concerns were taken into consideration. FLO opened officially in March 1978. From the outset, and to the surprise of some inside the Department of State, the new office was a resounding success. Mrs. Dorman’s engagement on behalf of the Foreign Service community did not stop there. While AAFSW president she also supported creation of the Overseas Briefing Center, to provide a source of information that employees and families could consult on posts overseas before they completed their bid lists and before actually arriving at post. In 1979, under Mrs. Dorman’s leader- ship, the FORUM contributed two more special reports based on information col- lected by members. “Legal and Economic Implications of USFS Life for Wives” discussed the realities of credit, property rights, widowhood and divorce for FS wives and their families. It was the first such document ever produced. The second FORUM report addressed— again, for the first time ever—the issue of spousal employment. In the late 1970s, when the administra- tion decided to revise the Foreign Service Act of 1946, Mrs. Dorman steered AAFSW to a seat at the table, registering the group as a bona fide lobbying entity and, with others, gave testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the White House Conference on Families. The result was a clause in the Foreign Service Act of 1980 stipulating that the “…Foreign Service pension be equally divided by spouses upon divorce unless an agreement or court order existed to the contrary.” During the last two years of Mrs. Dor- man’s AAFSW presidency, a new area of concern appeared. During the Iran hostage crisis from 1979 to 1981 it became obvious that the U.S. government needed to establish better support for diplomatic families in times of international emer- gency. The FORUM started work on a report, “Families in Situations of Interna- tional Crisis.” In addition, withMrs. Dorman’s encouragement, AAFSW established fruit- ful cooperation with the Overseas Briefing Center to produce What Do I Do Now? A Sourcebook on Regulations, Allowances and Finances —a volume still in use today. After her term in office, Mrs. Dorman remained deeply loyal to AAFSW and later co-authored a history of the association from 1960 to 1990. In 1993, the association created the Dorman Award in her honor to recognize AAFSW volunteers who had given exceptional, sustained support to the AAFSW in all its endeavors. In addition to serving as president, she served as the AAFSW program chair, the housing office chair and the public relations chair. Even when it became dif- ficult for her to move about, she insisted on remaining engaged and often attended AAFSWBoard meetings. Lesley Dorman’s friends and col- leagues remember her with admiration and affection as an unfailingly loyal and fascinating friend with a wonderful sense of humor. Even when she was involved in thorny discussions, they recall, she was never “all work and no play.” She loved tennis, both as player and spectator— especially the matches at Wimbledon. From time to time, they recall, she would say: “We need a good giggle!”This would mean no shop talk and going out for lunch—or even, on one memorable occasion, for high tea at the Mayflower Hotel. Friends and colleagues also remem- ber her as an irreplaceable driving force whose legacy is an inspiration to all. Through AAFSW, Mrs. Dorman did an enormous amount to improve the qual- ity of life of Foreign Service spouses and families. Mrs. Dorman is survived by her hus- band of 65 years, Philip Dorman, and two sons, Mark and Tim, of Washington, D.C. n Joske Y. Duffield, 93, the widow of former FSOThomas Jefferson (Jeff) Duff- ield Jr., died on Oct. 10 in Denver, Colo., of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.