76 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL and diplomatic communities wherever they resided. The couple actively supported local organizations and encouraged others to volunteer. Mr. Switzer’s career highlights include his involvement in the 1987 Reagan-Gorbachev summit, the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference focused on Arab-Israeli negotiations, and the 1992 Seville Expo, as well as his role in monitoring the first democratic elections in former Soviet states. He proudly served his nation in the Foreign Service for more than 30 years, visiting more than 120 countries. Following his retirement in 2001, Mr. Switzer joined the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) in Washington, D.C., as communications director. For more than a decade there, he helped promote awareness of the vital role of U.S. diplomacy and encourage the next generation to pursue careers in public service and diplomacy. As the head of AFSA’s Speakers Bureau, he organized speaking events for former ambassadors and diplomats at universities across the United States. Friends recall that Mr. Switzer had a voracious appetite for knowledge and was an avid reader. A history and art lover, he greatly enjoyed visiting historical sites around the world. He studied and spoke 11 languages and would often delight people with his heartfelt, energetic way of conversing and vast understanding of many topics. Mr. Switzer’s zest for life and his desire to connect and communicate with people never waned, even throughout his illness, family members recall. A spiritual man, he was committed to the teachings of the Catholic Jesuits who educated him and, above all, to love, peace, kindness, tolerance, and compassion. Friends remember him as If you would like us to include an obituary in In Memory, please send text to journal@afsa.org. Be sure to include the date, place, and cause of death, as well as details of the individual’s Foreign Service career. Please place the name of the AFSA member to be memorialized in the subject line of your email. n Thomas “Tom” Walsh Switzer, 82, a retired Foreign Service officer, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, on Oct. 26, 2024, in Chantilly, Va., after living with dementia for several years. He was born on April 19, 1942, in Denver, Colo. He was raised there, attending Regis High School and continuing his studies for two years at Regis College, before attending and becoming a proud graduate of the University of Notre Dame in 1964. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s call for Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,” Mr. Switzer volunteered for the U.S. Peace Corps right after his Notre Dame graduation. He served for two years in Malawi, providing medical and educational support to local communities. During that time, he traveled throughout Africa and summited Mount Kilimanjaro. He then attended graduate school at the University of Colorado–Boulder, where he studied law and foreign affairs, earning a master’s degree in 1968. In 1968 Mr. Switzer passed the Foreign Service exam and moved to Washington, D.C., to begin his career as a U.S. Foreign Service officer with a focus in public diplomacy and communications. He served overseas in Costa Rica, Mexico, Venezuela, North Macedonia (formerly Yugoslavia), Spain, and various countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkan region. While serving in Morelia, Mexico, in the early 1970s, he met and married his beloved wife, Sheila. Together, they traveled the world. They both enjoyed music and the arts and led a very active social life engaging with the local, international, a devout family man and a good friend and confidant to many. Mr. Switzer loved nature and animals. He loved to hike, bike, fish, swim, play sports, paint nature scenes, and spend time in the natural world, often returning to his home state of Colorado. He was predeceased by his father, Charles McCormick Switzer; his mother, Kathryn Theresa Walsh Switzer; his older brother, Charles “Charlie” Switzer; his baby sister, Kathleen Switzer; aunts Dorothy Walsh and Marjorie Walsh; and uncle Thomas “Tom” Walsh (his namesake). Mr. Switzer is survived by his wife, Sheila Switzer; his two daughters, Christine and Jacqueline; two sons-inlaw; and grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to any of these organizations in Tom’s honor: the Bridge Project (https://bridgeproject. org/), Alzheimer’s Association (https:// www.alz.org/), or Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide (https://www.aafsw.org/Donate). n
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