The Foreign Service Journal, March 2017

76 MARCH 2017 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Martin-Donley of Houston, Texas; his brother and family, William, Linda and Justin Martin of Manvel, Texas; and his sister and family, Nancy, Matthew and Stacy Matula of Atlanta, Ga., San Antonio, Texas, and Houston. Donations in Mr. Martin’s memory can be made to Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union or the National Brain Tumor Society. n Vernon “Ray” Meininger, 66, a retired Foreign Service officer and the husband of FSO Laurie Meininger, died unexpectedly on Nov. 4, 2016, in Free- town, Sierra Leone. Mr. Meininger was born on Aug. 18, 1950, in Wickenburg, Ariz., and grew up in Northern California. He graduated from Piner High School in Santa Rosa, Calif., and volunteered for service in the U.S. Army in 1968, serving in Vietnam. He received his B.S. in facilities engi- neering from Pacific Western University. In 1974, Mr. Meininger married Laurie Roethlein. He worked for several years in hospital administration and facilities management in California, Hawaii and Arizona until 1999, when he and his wife joined the Foreign Service as a tandem couple with the State Department. Mr. Meininger served abroad in the Marshall Islands, Cameroon, Guyana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Romania, Iraq and the Central African Republic, managing embassy facilities in those countries. He retired from the Foreign Service in 2015 after receiving numerous Superior Honor Awards and other recognition for his service. He then accompanied Mrs. Meininger on her assignment to Sierra Leone. There, he was consulting with the United Nations on rehabilitating health care centers that had been devastated by the Ebola outbreak of 2014-2015. Friends and family members recall that Mr. Meininger made friends wher- ever he went; always with good cheer, a broad grin, witty humor and kindness. He was a true gentleman and diplomat, and a funny and prolific writer. He lived a life full of love, laughter and adventure, and was never without a handkerchief in his back pocket. Mr. Meininger enjoyed teaching his craft to local staff, being the community grandpa or playing Santa Claus at embas- sies, orphanages and hospitals around the world, dispensing hugs and small gifts with a “Ho Ho Ho” and a twinkle in his eye. He is survived by his wife, Laurie, and her family; their son, Jason, and daughter- in-law, Deven; grandchildren, Jordan and Travis; his mother, Vi Nordman; his broth- ers Rick, Greg, Gary and TomMeininger, and their families; and numerous cousins. n Chester Edward Norris Jr., 88, a retired Foreign Service officer of Lamoine, Maine, and Naples, Fla., died on Nov. 15, 2016, in Naples after a brief illness. Mr. Norris was born on Dec. 1, 1927, in Winterport, Maine. He graduated from Winterport High School and the Univer- sity of Maine at Orono. Early in his life Mr. Norris worked alongside his father, brother and uncle in the family businesses including car dealerships, real estate holdings, a small public utility and a construction company. Mr. Norris joined the Foreign Service in 1968, with guidance from the late Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-Maine). His first posting was as commercial attaché to Tel Aviv, where he met his future wife, Ulla. Assignments to Sydney, Lon- don, Jeddah, Lagos and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York followed. He was selected to attend the National War College, class of 1976. In March 1988, President Ronald Rea- gan appointed Mr. Norris U.S. ambassador to Equatorial Guinea. His tenure there saw the first contracts negotiated between American energy interests and Equato- rial Guinea, starting a process that would transform one of the poorest countries in Africa into a major gas and oil producer. Ambassador Norris retired from the Foreign Service at the end of 1990. He was subsequently approached by Houston- based Walter International to represent it as a consultant in Equatorial Guinea. This eventually led to Mr. Norris’ third career, working for a succession of oil companies like CMS Nomeco and Mara- thon Oil. In recognition of his contribu- tions to the energy industry, in 2000 a methanol tanker was christened “Ambas- sador Norris” in the town of Beppu, Japan. Aman of great wit and humor, Amb. Norris often regaled family and friends with reminiscences of early family life in Maine and adventures abroad, such as driving a motor home from Jeddah to Athens with his wife and a good friend. Although he traveled the world, he found the most joy in time spent at his home on the coast of Maine, where he watched the deer and the eagles in the company of his wife and his two little Papillons. For many years Amb. Norris served on the board of the Maine Seacoast Mission, in Bar Harbor, an organization that has served the needy along the coast of Maine for more than 100 years and for which he cared deeply. Amb. Norris is survived by his wife, Ulla; a brother and sister in Maine; and many nephews and nieces in Sweden and Maine. n WilliamAndrew “Andy” Oster- man, 66, a former Foreign Service officer, died suddenly on Sept. 3, 2016.