The Foreign Service Journal, March 2012

74 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A R C H 2 0 1 2 ian affairs from 1965 to 1966, and from 1966 to 1969 was officer-in-charge of Nigerian affairs and deputy director for West African affairs. In 1967 he received the Meritorious Honor Award. Mr. Smith attended the National War College from 1969 to 1970. Then, from 1970 to 1974, he served as minister-counselor and deputy chief of mission in Pretoria On June 12, 1974, President Richard Nixon named Mr. Smith U.S. ambassador to Malta. From 1976 to 1979 he was ambassa- dor to Ghana, and from 1979 to 1981 he served as ambassador to Liberia. On retiring in 1981, Ambassador Smith returned to his home in McLean, Va. From 1981 to 1985, Amb. Smith was the president and CEO of the African Wildlife Foundation, which had projects in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. In 1989, he re- turned to the State Department and worked on a part-time basis in the Of- fice of Asylum Affairs until 1998. A long struggle with multiple sclerosis and COPD limited his physical activi- ties in retirement, but he remained ac- tive as a volunteer teacher of English as a Second Language and as a mem- ber of Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church, Va. At his death, Amb. Smith was sur- rounded by his family. Having moved to Missoula in December 2010 to live with his daughter, Karen Martin, he spent his last year enveloped in family love, enjoying the Missoula Sym- phony, trying new restaurants, visiting the library and relishing the beauty of Montana. Family members and former col- leagues remember Amb. Smith fondly. As one former associate recalled, “Bob was one of the giants of our calling and for so many of us a personal friend and inspiration in a world that badly needs such anchors of decency and kind- ness.” Said his daughter Karen: “Dad was a brilliant, accomplished man who was also a devoted husband and a lov- ing father and proud grandfather.” Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Irene, of Missoula; four chil- dren, Michael B. Smith (and his wife, Debbie) of Belgrade, Mont.; Steven P. Smith (and his wife, Alayne) of Lan- caster, N.H.; Karen S. Martin of Mis- soula; David R. Smith (and his wife, Tracy) of Overland Park, Kan.; seven grandchildren; and a sister, Emma Louise McEver of Oklahoma City, Okla. Marion Lipsis Tiger , 92, widow of retired FSOM. Gordon Tiger, died on Nov. 19, 2011, in Fredericksburg, Va. Born in Chicago, Ill., on May 28, 1919, she was the daughter of the late Arthur Lipsis and Alma Schreiber. Mrs. Tiger began a long career in ad- vertising, art editing and publicity management in Chicago. During World War II she worked for the Red Cross. She accompanied her husband to his Foreign Service posts in Tehran, New Delhi and Karachi. During her years abroad, she helped manage the art collection at Embassy New Delhi and edited local publications. In 1978, at age 59, she received a bachelor’s degree in mass communi- cations from American University. She operated a photography darkroom and antique printing press from her home, and was a talented illustrator and cartoonist. She wrote and pro- duced the 40th-anniversary publica- tion for her community, Hollin Hills, in Alexandria, Va., and volunteered in the graphic arts department of the Na- tional Museum of American History. Mrs. Tiger was preceded in death by her husband of 61 years, M. Gor- don Tiger, and her brother Robert. She is survived by two daughters, Judith Tiger of Washington, D.C., and Rebecca Gregson (and her husband, Christopher Martin Gregson) of Fred- ericksburg, Va.; and two grandsons, Robert Gordon Gregson of New York City and Edward Cowling Gregson of Richmond, Va. In lieu of flowers, the family re- quests donations be made to the Alzheimers Association or Mary Washington Hospice. Anthony H. Wirtz , 84, a retired FSO with USAID, died on Jan. 23 in Boulder City, Nev. Born on May 20, 1927, in Wilkes Barre, Pa., Mr. Wirtz was raised in the Chicago area. He enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 17 and served at the end of World War II in Berlin. After grad- uating from the University of Notre Dame in 1951, he worked in federal management positions for the Na- tional Aeronautics and Space Admin- istration, the Bureau of Aeronautics, the Bureau of Naval Weapons and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He joined the Army Reserves during the Berlin call-up of 1961, eventually retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1965, Mr. Wirtz joined USAID and was placed in charge of commu- nity relations and technical assistance for 12 provinces in South Vietnam. His subsequent Foreign Service post- ings were Vientiane, Islamabad and Nouakchott. He retired fromUSAID in 1981 and settled in Boulder City, I N M E M O R Y