The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2020

88 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL n Kristen Bracewell Deming , 80, wife of Ambassador (ret.) Rust M. Deming, died peacefully at home in Bethesda, Md., on Oct. 21, 2019, after a decade-long battle with lung disease. Mrs. Deming was born Kristen Brace- well in Gainesville, Fla., in 1939. She grew up in Jacksonville and attended Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., graduating in 1962. While a student, she won the Acad- emy of American Poets Prize for Colleges and Universities. Friends note that Mrs. Deming was an accomplished haiku poet and artist. As an integral partner in her husband’s 38-year Foreign Service career, Mrs. Dem- ing excelled at her own brand of cultural diplomacy, drawing on her artistic tal- ents, innate interest in other people and cultures, and her sincerity and empathy during four tours of duty in Japan and two in Tunisia. In Japan, Mrs. Deming was active in organizing English-language haiku and Tanka poetry gatherings. One of her most effective contributions to cultural diplo- macy was a weekly poetry column in the Japan Times called “Haiku Moments” that she co-wrote with a Japanese col- league for six years. The column helped to open the world of haiku to English speakers and to give glimpses of Japanese culture through the lens of poetry. She was among a hand- ful of non-Japanese invited to the New Year’s Poetry Reading Party at the Imperial Court, the annual competition in which selected poems are recited in the presence of the Imperial Family. While in Japan, Mrs. Deming also served as president of the Tokyo-Washing- ton Women’s Club, was active in women’s international charity groups and taught English in a private Japanese middle school. Mrs. Deming enjoyed sculpting ginger- bread cookies in the form of caricatures of folk characters and public figures, includ- ing politicians and sumo wrestlers. In the 1980s, her “cookie art” was the subject of a Washington Post food section feature and a Japanese television news segment. After returning to the United States in 1997, Mrs. Deming served as president of the Haiku Society of America in 1998 and produced an award-winning volume of poetry. Her final overseas living experi- ence was in Tunisia, a country that had been the couple’s first Foreign Service assignment 34 years earlier. While her husband served as ambas- sador to Tunisia from 2000 to 2003, Mrs. Deming reached out to the local artistic community and to the wives of Tunisian officials and Arab diplomats. Her sincerity and warmth won her many friends, even from those whose govern- ments strongly opposed U.S. policies, particularly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. At one point during the war, Mrs. Dem- ing invited a group of Tunisian and Arab embassy women to her home for tea. The group came, but only after making clear they were not visiting the residence of the American ambassador; they were visiting “their friend Kristen’s home.” In addition to many poetry honors, Mrs. Deming was the recipient, along with her husband, of the Japan-America Soci- ety of Washington, D.C.’s 2016 Marshall Green Award for “sustained and signifi- cant contribution to U.S.-Japan relations.” Mrs. Deming is survived by her husband of 56 years, Rust Deming of Bethesda, Md.; daughters, Justine Rodri- guez of San Bernardino, Calif., Jennifer Burnham of Los Altos Hills, Calif., and Katherine Brodie of Chevy Chase, Md.; and seven grandchildren. Donations in her name may be made to the Haiku Society of America (www.hsa-haiku.org) . n Daniel Ted Fantozzi , 68, a retired Foreign Service officer, died peacefully in his sleep on Oct. 27, 2019, at his home in Falls Church, Va., after a battle with cancer. Mr. Fantozzi was born in Buffalo, N.Y. After graduating fromGeorgetown Uni- versity’s Walsh School of Foreign Service and obtaining an MBA fromAmerican University, Mr. Fantozzi joined the Foreign Service. He had a distinguished career with the Department of State for more than 30 years, retiring with the rank of Minister Counselor. Mr. Fantozzi spent much of his career in Washington, D.C., but was also station- ed in Sapporo, Zagreb, The Hague and Tokyo. After retirement, he again worked at the State Department as a senior edi- tor for the annual report on the status of religious freedomworldwide. Before he died, Mr. Fantozzi was able to visit with all four of his chil- dren. Mr. Fantozzi contributed to many charitable organizations. Among them are Catholic Relief Services, Habitat for Humanity, Doctors Without Borders, Food for Others, UNICEF and Cross Catholic Services. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Gay; their four children, Daniel, Victoria, Lydia and Nathan; four grandsons; and his siblings, Peter, Mary Ann andThomas. His family notes that a contribution in his name to any of the charitable groups he supported would have pleased him. n Marjorie AnnMorris , 70, the spouse of a retired Foreign Service officer, died on July 15, 2019, in Denton, Texas. Born in Oceanside, N.Y., the daughter of Jacob and Marjorie (Mann) Nerenberg, Ms. Morris attended J.E.B. Stuart High School (now Justice High School) in Falls Church, Va. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Russian from Emory University IN MEMORY