The Foreign Service Journal, February 2003

John, of Embassy Helsinki, and two sisters, four nephews, and one niece, all of Finland. Frances F. Switt , 65, a career USIA cultural affairs officer, died during a visit to New York City on Nov. 9, 2002, after a long battle with cancer. Ms. Switt, who had been living in Florida since her retirement in 1995, was legendary within the U.S. over- seas cultural and information pro- gram for her ability to raise funds from U.S. and foreign companies to help the government stage large- scale cultural programs, including art exhibits and classical and popular musical events, for foreign audi- ences. She was born in Farmington, N.J. in 1937, and educated at Sophie Newcomb College in New Orleans and at Yale University, where she studied international relations as a Woodrow Wilson Scholar. Ms. Switt entered the Foreign Service after working for a joint U.S.-Brazilian cultural center in Bahia, and was sent to Brasilia to run the Thomas Jefferson Center just established in the new capital. Her love of that country led her to return several times for postings in Rio and Bahia and as national cul- tural affairs officer based in Brasilia. She also served as cultural affairs officer in Buenos Aires, as director of the U.S. Cultural Center in Paris, and as director of the USIA pro- gram in Port-au-Prince. Ms. Switt found a strong relation- ship between the art and culture of Haiti and that of her beloved Bahia, and acquired a large collection of art from both places. She was a major donor of both Haitian and Latin American art to museums and gal- leries, most notably the Bass Museum in Miami. U.S. assignments included directing the U.S. reception centers in New York and Florida, in which travel programs for official guests of the U.S. government were designed and overseen. She was lauded for maintaining the operations of the Miami center from staff members’ homes during Hurricane Hugo in 1989, despite peak winds of 160 miles per hour. She was also sec- onded to Washington’s Corcoran Gallery of Art to work on special projects for the director of the museum. After her retirement from USIA, Ms. Switt became program coordi- nator for Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., where she helped recruit scholarship students from Brazil and Argentina. Ms. Switt had recently completed a European visit to art centers in St. Petersburg, Berlin, Rome, London and Paris, despite rapidly advancing cancer. After returning to her retire- ment home in Gainesville, Fla., she insisted on making her annual visit to New York to see the season’s new plays and ballets. She suffered a fall shortly after arriving, and died with- out regaining consciousness at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Her many friends, scattered around the globe, are planning a memorial service in her honor to be conducted on the Internet. She is survived by her brother, Joseph Switt of Ocala, Florida and her nephew, Randall Switt of Gainesville, Florida. The family suggests contributions in her mem- ory to the American Cancer Society. Wendell Wilfred Woodbury , 82, a retired Foreign Service officer, died Nov. 8, 2002, at Inova Alexandria Hospital in Alexandria, Va., from pneumonia and Alzheimer’s disease. Mr. Woodbury was born April 29, 1920, in Crocker, S.D., to Wallace Charles Woodbury, a telegrapher and railroad station agent, and Inga Skavang of Crocker. With his family, he later moved to Corwith, Iowa, where he received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa in 1942. During World War II he served in the Pacific from 1943 to 1946, when he was discharged as an infrantry captain. After receiving an M.A. in economics from Harvard University in 1949, he entered the Foreign Service as a vice consul. Postings took him twice to Japan, to the Dominican Republic, to Algeria and to Denmark, where he headed the economic section of the embassy and on occasion became deputy chief of mission and chargé d’affaires. Two postings to Washington involved economic intelligence analysis and work with international organizations. He was a member of the 1974 class of the Senior Seminar of the Foreign Service. After retiring from the Foreign Service in 1980, he divid- ed his time between homes in Alexandria, Va. and Marlborough, N.H. He also enjoyed extensive travel. Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Elizabeth Woodbury of Alexandria; a son, Jonathan Woodbury of Moorpark, Calif.; two brothers; and two grandchildren. A son, Alden, preceded him in death. John C. Leary , 78, retired Foreign Service officer, died of F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 69 I N M E M O R Y