The Foreign Service Journal, April 2013

62 April 2013 | the foreign Service journal from 1970 to 1973. He retired in 1980 as the chief inspector of USIA. Mr. Curtiss received the USIA’s Superior Honor Award for his service as Embassy Beirut’s public affairs officer during Lebanon’s civil war. He also received the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy, USIA’s highest professional recognition, in 1974. In 1982, Mr. Curtiss, Ambassador Andrew Killgore and Ambassador Edward Henderson co-founded the American Educational Trust, a nonpar- tisan, nonprofit foundation, which pub- lishes the award-winning Washington Report on Middle East Affairs magazine. Richard Curtiss is survived by his beloved wife of 62 years, Donna B. Curtiss of Kensington, Md.; a daughter, Darcy Sreebny (and her husband, Dan) of Herndon, Va.; a son, Andrew Curtiss (and his wife, Krista) also of Herndon; a daughter, Delinda Hanley of Kensing- ton, Md.; and six grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son Denny. n Jean O’Mara Ernst , 87, the spouse of retired FSO Roger Ernst, passed away in Tampa, Fla., surrounded by her fam- ily. Mrs. Ernst was born in New York City, where she attended St. Agatha’s and Riverdale Country Day schools. After graduating from Smith College in 1947, she worked in investment management as a vice president with Fidelity Trust in New York City. Her father was Col. John A. O’Mara, a pilot with the U.S. Army Air Force who played a key role in “Operation Paperclip,” debriefing rocket scientists such as Werner von Braun and bringing them out of Germany in the immediate post-World War II period. Her mother, Margaret Fezandie O’Mara, was one of the first women to gain a pilot’s license, and often took Jeannie and her brother Johnny up flying. Mrs. Ernst’s husband of 60 years, Roger, proposed to her on first sight while flying from Nantucket to New York. They enjoyed a marriage of adven- ture, service and travel. During their postings to India, Taiwan, Korea, Ethio- pia and Thailand, Mrs. Ernst hosted or met President Lyndon Baines Johnson, Jacqueline Kennedy, Sargent Schriver, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, President Park Chung Hee of Korea, Pre- mier Chiang Kai-Shek of Taiwan, Mother Teresa and other global leaders. In the United States, Mr. and Mrs. Ernst lived in Washington, D.C.; Bethesda, Md; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Tampa, Fla., and spent summers in Nan- tucket, Mass. Mrs. Ernst helped establish a preschool in Bethesda, Md., and an elementary school in New Delhi, India, and worked in a hospital in Taipei, Taiwan. She was an avid tennis player, play- ing until the age of 86 and winning many singles and doubles champion- ships, including the men’s doubles title in Ethiopia (there wasn’t a women’s competition). She also enjoyed dancing, travel, gourmet cooking and entertain- ing. Mrs. Ernst is remembered for her beauty, style, caring thoughtfulness, upbeat attitude and quiet courage. She is survived by her husband, Roger; her son, David (and his wife, Jennifer) of McLean, Va.; her daughter, Debbe (and her husband, Jeff Nichol- son) of Nantucket, Mass.; four grand- children, Benjamin, Julia, and Daniel Ernst, and Sam Nicholson; and many cousins. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in Jean Ernst’s honor to the Alzheimer’s Foundation at www.alz.org. n Robert S. Gershenson , 84, a retired Foreign Service officer, died on Dec. 23 at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Md. He had pneumonia and Parkinson’s disease. Robert Saul Gershenson was born in Philadelphia, Pa., where he gradu- ated from Temple University in 1956. He joined the Foreign Service in 1957 and retired in 1981, having served in Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Uruguay. Mr. Gershenson’s Foreign Service career included consular, administrative and managerial positions. He was execu- tive director of the State Department’s Bureau of Inter-American Affairs from 1978 to 1980. In 1980 he served as deputy assistant secretary for personnel. In 1980 President Jimmy Carter nomi- nated him to be ambassador to Uruguay. But the nomination was one of several the Senate put on hold until the 1981 inauguration of Ronald Reagan, at which point Mr. Gershenson elected to retire. On retiring, he received the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award. Later Mr. Gershenson held consulting positions and executive jobs with office equipment companies in the Nether- lands and California. For three years he was executive director of Meridian House in Washing- ton, D.C., which promotes international understanding. In the early 1990s he returned to the State Department to work on various assignments for the Office of the Inspec- tor General. He was a Silver Spring resident. Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Linda Rosenthal Gershenson of Sil- ver Spring, Md.; three children, Glenn Gershenson of Hershey, Pa., Geoffrey Gershenson of Oakland, Calif., and Ceci-