THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2026 83 n Patricia Kansas, 85, a retired member of the Foreign Service and FS spouse, died on August 24, 2025, in Kittery, Maine. Ms. Kansas was born on October 29, 1939, in Cranston, R.I., the daughter of the late James F. and Mary E. (née Smith) Lannon. She grew up in Cranston alongside her brothers Thomas J. and Edward E. Lannon. She met her future husband, Thomas Kansas, while still a teenager through her friendship with his sister. The two married young, at 19 and 21. Their marriage of more than six decades was marked by partnership, adventure, and mutual devotion. Mr. Kansas joined the State Department in 1975 as a technical security officer, and the couple began their Foreign Service life together with an assignment to Athens, where they spent four years. After a brief period in the United States, the couple returned overseas in 1983, when Mr. Kansas rejoined the Foreign Service as a building and maintenance officer. Subsequent postings took them to Niger and Türkiye. Following her husband’s retirement, Ms. Kansas joined the State Department herself, and they continued their Foreign Service career overseas. Ms. Kansas worked as an office management specialist (OMS) for three tours, and then as a general services officer until her retirement in 2005. She served at posts in Venezuela, Uruguay, Guyana, Libya, Grenada, the Dominican Republic, and Germany, where she helped move the embassy from Bonn to Berlin. Ms. Kansas shared a deep and enduring bond with her husband. Together, they built a life filled with love, laughter, and a sense of adventure. Her devotion to her family was unwavering, and at the center of her world were son Scott Kansas; daughter-in-law Andrea Kansas; grandchildren Taylor Kansas, Madison Bookhart, and Jordan Bookhart-Holderfield (and husband Will); and great-grandchild Wesley Bookhart-Holderfield. Friends and family members recall Ms. Kansas’ innate ability to make others feel valued, whether it was through a listening ear, a kind word, or her infectious sense of humor. Her home was always filled with warmth, they remember, and her spirit will forever live on in the countless memories she created by sharing the interesting experiences she had during her many years in the Foreign Service and by the way she embraced life with open arms. Her passion for volunteering and teaching brought her great joy, and she used her innate talents to brighten the lives of everyone she came into contact with. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the American Lung Association, a cause that was near and dear to Ms. Kansas’ heart. n Stephen Hitchcock Rogers, 95, a retired Foreign Service officer and former U.S. ambassador to Swaziland (now Eswatini), died on July 27, 2025. Born in Flushing, N.Y., on June 21, 1930, Mr. Rogers grew up on Long Island and in Lexington, Mass. He knew even before he graduated from Port Washington (N.Y.) High School that he wanted a career in the U.S. Foreign Service. After a Naval ROTC scholarship enabled a bachelor’s degree in public and international affairs at Princeton, he served for three years as navigator on a destroyer during the Korean War. While subsequently pursuing a master’s degree in economics at Columbia, he met his future wife, Kent, at a French Club tea on campus. He proposed to her once he knew he had a job lined up with the State Department, and they married and moved to Washington, D.C. Later, in 1962, he also received a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University. In 1956 the couple’s shared life of service and adventure began. The Foreign Service took the family to India, France, England, Mexico, and South Africa, with stints in Washington, D.C., interspersed. Mr. Rogers’ final assignment was Swaziland, where he served as U.S. ambassador from 1990 until retiring in 1993. During his 37-year diplomatic career, Ambassador Rogers represented and advised on the policies of nine different presidential administrations. He also taught economics at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. In retirement, Amb. Rogers and his wife returned to their home in Annandale, Va., that they had bought early in their marriage. Though settled, they hardly stayed put: Their love of adventure and learning took them on travels around the world for another quartercentury. They also kept up their tradition of diving into the community through active engagement with the church they had joined in 1957, the neighborhood civic association, and through volunteer work in schools. Amb. Rogers also served as a poll worker and captain in numerous elections, helped lead his Princeton alumni class, and advocated for positive political change. Learning about people and places, history and nature kept Mr. Rogers growing throughout his long life. He would find out as much as he could about the countries they lived in, memorize poetry on the Metro, and report on “All Things Considered” at the dinner table. He read long biographies up until his last years and was happy to quote Longfellow’s “Paul Revere’s Ride” or Frost’s “Mending Fences” well into his 90s.
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