The Foreign Service Journal, March 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2017 77 Mr. Osterman was born on April 25, 1950, in Indianapolis, Ind., and grew up in Churchville, Pa. As a high school senior he became locally famous for staging a suc- cessful raid, in period-appropriate British uniform, during the annual re-enactment of Washington crossing the Delaware River. As a young man he also developed a long-termpassion for do-it-yourself projects and vintage European sports cars, several of which were periodically road- worthy. In 1972 Mr. Osterman graduated from Hamilton College, where he majored in Asian studies. He traveled extensively in Asia and was fluent in Japanese, Manda- rin and Cantonese. He earned a master’s degree in international economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and certification in Japanese at the Stanford University Language Program in Tokyo. Mr. Osterman joined the Foreign Service in 1977 as an economic officer. He served overseas in Tokyo, and back in Washington worked to develop United States-Japan technical and scientific cooperation. After leaving the State Department, Mr. Osterman studied at Harvard Business School and consulted “outside the Belt- way” for numerous companies, including in the film and entertainment industry. Mr. Osterman’s creative intellect and voracious curiosity also drew him to the finer points of Asian culture, obscurantist organizational psychology, American history and architecture, the banjo, a large German organ and the art of calligraphy. He had great affection for the life and works of Mark Twain, inspired by a ques- tionable genealogical connection. Family members and friends fondly recall his wry humor, and his gimlet-eyed view of life made him an endearing and wonderfully unpredictable companion. Nothing was ever settled, something was always beginning and everything was a great deal of fun. Mr. Osterman is survived by his beloved partner, Wendy Cronin of Balti- more, Md.; his mother, Barbara Osterman of Newtown, Pa.; his brothers Dana of Washington Crossing, Pa., Jeff of Pleas- antville, N.Y., and Mark of Rochester, N.Y.; his son, Andrew Palmer Osterman (and his wife, Lindsay) of Washington, D.C.; his daughter, Katherine Frances Osterman of Belmont, Mass.; and a granddaughter, Alexandra. Donations in Mr. Osterman’s name may be sent to the Big Life Foundation (biglife.org ). n Walter Heman Sargent Jr., 85, a retired Senior Foreign Service officer with Diplomatic Security, died of lung cancer and complications from a stroke on July 24, 2016, in Sarasota, Fla. Mr. Sargent was born in Merrimac, Mass., on June 26, 1931. As family mem- bers recall, he always said that as a teen- ager, he dreamed of a life of adventure. He graduated from Swampscott High School in 1949 and from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1953. He majored in forestry, serving with the U.S. Forest Service as a “smoke chaser” in Oregon during the summers of his junior and senior years of college. After college, Mr. Sargent joined the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was selected for the 902nd Military Intelli- gence Group, later commanding the 82nd Airborne Division Military Intelligence Detachment. He served in West Germany from 1957 to 1960 and as a military intelligence adviser in Vietnam from 1962 to 1963. He resigned from the regular army as a cap- tain in 1966 and transitioned his commis- sion to the Army Reserve, where he was promoted to major. Mr. Sargent joined the U.S. State Department Foreign Service as a security specialist, serving as a bodyguard to Sec- retaries of State Dean Rusk and William Rogers, as well as visiting heads of govern- ment and chiefs of state. As a Diplomatic Security officer, his overseas postings included Kinshasa (1976-1978), Beirut (1978-1980), San Salvador (1982-1985), Bogota (1985-1988), Tokyo (1990-1993) andManila (1993- 1996). During his tour of duty in Japan, he was promoted to the Senior Foreign Service. In 1996 he retired, and the couple settled in Sarasota, Fla. Mr. Sargent was very active in retire- ment. He enjoyed visiting national parks, bicycling, tai chi and iaido, a Japanese sword art. A dedicated volunteer at the Selby Library for more than 15 years, he was an avid reader who pursued the study of history, philosophy and New England family genealogy. He hiked in several foreign countries, large portions of the Appalachian Trail and in various national parks all over the United States. He climbedMt. Washington in NewHampshire, Mt. Katahdin inMaine andMt. Fuji in Japan with his wife, Sharon. Family and friends remember Mr. Sar- gent as cheerful and kind. He was known for his charming smile, charismatic per- sonality and wry sense of humor. He was a devoted and loving husband. Mr. Sargent was very proud of his children and of having served his country in the U.S. Army and the U.S. State Depart- ment’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Near the end of his life, when asked how he wanted to be remembered, he said, “As a soldier.” Mr. Sargent is survived by his loving wife of 31 years, Sharon Murphy Sargent;