THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2025 65 IN MEMORY n César Beltrán, 77, a retired Senior Foreign Service officer with the rank of Counselor, died peacefully in his sleep on Dec. 13, 2024, at his home in Chaplin, Conn., after a long battle with an unspecified Parkinsonism. Born in 1947, Mr. Beltrán earned a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Chico, and later a master’s from George Washington University. He was also a Ford Fellow. He joined the Foreign Service in 1971 and served 35 years with the State Department and U.S. Information Agency, eventually becoming a member of the Senior Foreign Service. He was a veteran public affairs and communications manager, with expertise dealing at the highest levels of government, academia, and business. During his career, Mr. Beltrán held counselor positions in Budapest, Warsaw, Santo Domingo, and Moscow. At U.S. Embassies Budapest and Warsaw, he directed the public affairs offices, including during Poland’s successful entry into NATO in 1999. He also helped manage a succession of VIP visits, notably First Lady Hillary Clinton in 2000 and President George W. Bush in 2001, 2005, and 2006. During Mr. Beltrán’s tour in Hispaniola, he developed public affairs strategies for the United States in dealing with the Dominican presidential elections of 1994 and 1996. He also provided public affairs support in Haiti during the 1993 international embargo and the subsequent return of the Aristide government. In the Soviet Union, Mr. Beltrán managed all official cultural activities and exchanges between the U.S. and the Soviet Union (1990-1991) and Russia (1992-1993), including creation of the American Information and Cultural Center in Moscow. Additionally, he prepared strategic plans for the expansion of educational exchanges and cultural programs for all 15 former Soviet republics. In 2006 Mr. Beltrán retired to Chaplin, Conn., where he enjoyed a second career as an adjunct professor in communication at Eastern Connecticut State University for 11 years. He also served as a senior adviser to the International Centre for Democratic Transition and on the board of the Mensch Foundation, both based in Budapest. Throughout his life, Mr. Beltrán was an avid sportsman and was particularly fond of horseback riding, polo, and downhill skiing. He loved traveling outside capital cities to get to know the countries to which he was assigned. He thoroughly enjoyed throwing elaborate Halloween costume parties with his wife, Victoria, a writer and artist. He is survived by his wife, Victoria Woodruff Northrop. n Ellen Largent Perlman, 96, the spouse of retired Foreign Service Officer Alvin Perlman, died on Oct. 27, 2024, in the Trustbridge Hospice at the Delray Beach Medical Center in Delray Beach, Fla. Ms. Perlman was born in Winchester, Va., to Pearle Rinard Largent and Brady Wills Largent. In 1946 she graduated from Handley High School and in 1950 from Westhampton College, University of Richmond, Va. Ms. Perlman taught school in Winchester before moving to Washington, D.C., where she worked as a researcher and writer at the National Geographic Society and then for Richard Scammon, a political scientist who was appointed director of the Bureau of the Census by President John F. Kennedy. In 1962 she married Alvin “Al” Perlman, a Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Information Agency. Over the next 25 years, they served in India, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Romania, and Washington, D.C. She taught English as a second language at all posts. When he was assigned to Hue, during the Vietnam War, Ms. Perlman “safe havened” in Bangkok. In 1986 Mr. Perlman retired from USIA, and the couple moved to Winchester, Va., and then to Huntington Point in Delray Beach, Fla., in 1994. There, Ms. Perlman joined the Delray Beach Chapter of the Brandeis University National Women’s Committee and enjoyed serving as the editor of its bulletin from 1999 until 2004. She also presented several study groups, focusing on King Richard III’s lineage as well as documenting the achievements of women painters throughout history, an interest that continued for the rest of her life. In 2002 the Perlmans moved to Abbey Delray South, a life care community in Delray Beach, where they enjoyed close friendships and the many cultural activities of the community. Ms. Perlman was preceded in death by her siblings and their spouses: brother Rinard Largent and “Snooks,” of Winchester, Va.; sister Janet Largent Smith and Jack, of Winchester, Va.; and sister Louise Carpenter and Allen, of Cape Coral, Fla. Ms. Perlman is survived by her husband, Al, of 62 years; she is also survived by many nieces and nephews from both the Perlman and Largent families. n Lo Pan Pamela Colm, 95, spouse of the late Foreign Service Officer Peter W. Colm, passed away peacefully on Oct. 19, 2024, at her home in Annandale, Va. Born on Sept. 20, 1929, in Tamsui, Ms. Colm was a third-generation Taiwanese whose family had immigrated to the island from Fujian Province, China, during the 1800s.
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