The Foreign Service Journal, March 2015

68 march 2015 | the foreign Service journal Angeles, Calif.; his second wife, Graciela Griffiths of Albuquerque, N.M., and their children: Alessandra Holowesko (and her husband, Stephen) of Nassau, Bahamas, and Glenn Griffiths of Albuquerque, N.M.; and his wife, Marguerite (Peggy) of Dana Point, Calif.; and five grandchil- dren: William, Maria Gabriella, Siena and JohnTheodore Holowesko, and Gavin Griffiths. The family requests that, in honor of his exemplary caregivers, donations in Mr. Griffiths’ memory be made to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation at www. pulmonaryfibrosis.org or (888) 733-6741. n Robert V. Keeley, 85, a retired FSO and three-time ambassador who attained the rank of Career Minister, died of a stroke on Jan. 9 in Washington, D.C. Mr. Keeley was born on Sept. 4, 1929, in Beirut, where his father, James, was the American consul. As the family moved from post to post, Mr. Keeley attended schools in Canada, Greece and Belgium, and he became fluent in French and Greek. Majoring in English, he graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1951, and then served in the U.S. Coast Guard as commander of an 83-foot patrol boat during the Korean War (1953-1955). Mr. Keeley joined the Foreign Service in 1956. During a distinguished 34-year career, he served as political officer in Jordan, Mali and Greece; as deputy chief of mission in Uganda (1971-1973) and Cambodia (1974-1975); and as deputy director of the Interagency Task Force on Indochina Refugees (1975-1976). He was appointed U.S. ambassador to Mauritius in 1976, and was then named deputy assistant secretary of State for African affairs, in charge of southern and eastern Africa (1978-1980). He then served as U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe (1980-1984) and Greece (1985-1989). Ambassador Keeley was elected president of AFSA in 1985, but his term was cut short by the appointment as U.S. ambassador to Greece, his last posting. As noted in his obituary in The Wash- ington Post , “In the countries to which he was sent, governments fell, coups were plotted and attempted, strongmen seized power, the Cold War played out, and he dealt personally with international figures of prominence. Among these was the notorious and dangerously erratic strong- man who ruled Uganda, Idi Amin.” Amb. Keeley was also closely involved with the evacuation of the U.S. embassies in both Uganda and Cambodia. Known for his willingness to ques- tion the status quo in foreign policy and speak out against injustice, Amb. Keeley won AFSA’s 1989 Christian Herter Award, given to a member of the Senior Foreign Service who demonstrates “extraordi- nary accomplishment involving initia- tive, integrity, intellectual courage and creative dissent.” His citation pointed to Amb. Keeley’s consistent intellectual courage and creative dissent in policy recommenda- tions while serving in Greece, Uganda and Cambodia. His service as a political officer and, later, as U.S. ambassador in Athens was characterized by forthright honesty in dealing with a challenging relationship. In 1967, when a military coup overthrew Greece’s democratic government, he vigorously contended that the United States should make clear its opposition to the junta. In Uganda, he urged that the United States take strong action to demonstrate its disapproval of a deplorable regime. And in Cambodia, he distinguished himself with constructive criticism of some aspects of U.S. policy during the traumatic period of 1974-1975. After retiring from the Foreign Service in 1989, Amb. Keeley served as president of the Middle East Institute (1990-1995) and as board chairman of the Council for the National Interest Foundation, a group that tries to balance what it consid- ers a pro-Israeli tilt in U.S. policy toward the Middle East. Amb. Keeley’s strong, lifelong hope was that a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be found. Amb. Keeley was an articulate advocate for a greater role for diplomacy in defusing conflict and protecting the nation, and contributed his expertise to the American Academy of Diplomacy collection, First Line of Defense—Ambas- sadors, Embassies and American Inter- ests Abroad (2000). He is the author of The Colonels’ Coup and the American Embassy: A Diplomat’s View of the Break- down of Democracy in Cold War Greece (2010). An avid sailor throughout his life, Amb. Keeley celebrated his 70th birth- day by renting a yacht and treating his extended family to a sailing trip through Greece’s Cyclades Islands. Amb. Keeley is survived by his wife of 64 years, Louise Schoonmaker Keeley of Washington, D.C.; two children: Michal Keeley of Fleischmanns, N.Y., and Chris- topher Keeley of Washington, D.C.; his brother; and four grandchildren. n Micheline Lamirault Kemper, 86 the wife of retired USAID FSO Joseph Kemper, died on Nov. 22 at her home in Alexandria, Va. Born in Paris, France, on July 21, 1928, Mrs. Kemper was the only child of Robert and Lucie Lamirault. In 1947 she became a civilian English translator for the French army in Germany, where she met her future husband.