The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2022 47 sive efforts to document his service and sacrifice. Vorderstrasse even located the flight of stairs at the former camp that contrib- uted to Engdahl’s fall ( as described in the June 2009 FSJ ) . Our research also led us to the story of Engdahl’s wife, Eliza- beth Cary Lockhart “Lee” Engdahl, which is perhaps even more compelling and deserves its own due. Born in 1909 in Muncie, Indiana, and a one-time student at Wellesley College, she mar- ried Russ Engdahl in 1937 in Shanghai, where he was serving as a consul and she lived with her parents while her father worked as an economic adviser to Chiang Kai-Shek. The newlywed Mrs. Engdahl was forced to flee to Manila only a few months later when Japan invaded China. She returned to Shanghai in Decem- ber 1937, and then went to the United States with Russ in April 1939, presumably remaining there when he was sent to Hong Kong in late 1941 on courier duty. In 1942, Mrs. Engdahl began work at the State Department— probably out of financial necessity when her husband died—as a file examiner in the Division of Communications and Records, where she served until 1946. It is not difficult to imagine the stress she must have been under. Not only had she lost her husband under horrific circumstances, but her younger sister, brother-in-law and two young nieces were interned by occupy- ing Japanese forces in Shanghai at the same time. Nevertheless, what must have been a very painful time in her life became a catalyst to serve. In 1946, the widowed Mrs. Engdahl was appointed vice consul in Shanghai, returning to the city where she met and married Russ—and to his former job. Her grit and courage to take this step were extraordinary, particularly for a woman at that time. Not only did she complete her tour in Shanghai, but she went on to serve as a visa officer in Tehran, Paris, Vienna, Washington, D.C., and Montreal, as well as probable TDY assignments in Salzburg, Santo Domingo and Brussels. She retired as chief of field operations in the Visa Office in Washington in 1969. She never remarried. The Complicated Legacy of One Particular Officer Other historical State employees were brought to our atten- tion by academics and relatives who contacted the department Our goal was to identify predecessors who personified the values that drew us to the profession, and to share their stories to inspire others.