The Foreign Service Journal, May 2004

George Frederick Bogardus , 86, retired FSO, died Nov. 27 at Suburban Hospital in Washington, D.C., of pneumonia and other com- plications after a long illness. Mr. Bogardus’ Foreign Service career, which began in 1941, took him to Montreal, Mombasa, Prague, Algiers, Toronto, Hamburg, Saigon and Stuttgart. He had a brief stint with the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, after which he rejoined the State Department. Before retiring in 1970, he was a political adviser to the Air Force and, for a short time, to the Defense Department. Mr. Bogardus was a native of Des Moines, Iowa. He graduated from Harvard University in 1939. He was a member of the Holland Society of New York, the Candlelight Waltzes, and the Westmoreland Congre- gational United Church of Christ. His hobbies included golf, chess, bridge, play reading and history. Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Virginia Webb Bogardus of Bethesda, Md., and two daughters, Janet Bogardus of San Francisco, Calif., and Margaret Termini of Philadelphia, Pa. Virginia Devine , 84, wife of retired FSO John E. Devine, died Feb. 18 in Washington, D.C., of res- piratory failure. Mrs. Devine was born in the District of Columbia and lived in Chevy Chase, Md., until the age of 13, when she moved to New York City with her mother, Marie. Marie was an actress, and Virginia would attend school during the day and at night sit backstage doing her home- work and watching rehearsals. She graduated from Bennington Coll- ege in Vermont with a degree in art in 1939, and returned to New York City. During this time, she inter- viewed with John Devine, who worked as a documentary film pro- ducer. The two fell in love, and mar- ried in 1942, at which point John Devine entered the Foreign Service and Virginia Devine resigned herself to a life in the diplomatic fishbowl. For the next 25 years she and her growing family traveled the world, accompanying Mr. Devine on post- ings to Cairo, Hamburg, Bonn, Vienna, Heidelberg and, in between, Washington, D.C. Mrs. Devine host- ed diplomatic dinners and parties and forged many new friendships. Following Mr. Devine’s retire- ment in 1970, they settled in Washington, D.C., where Mrs. De- vine took up the difficult and chal- lenging work of art restoration at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. She also wrote articles for various publica- tions, including the Washington Post. In a eulogy, son John Devine Jr. drew this portrait of his mother: “Virginia Devine loved to read, trav- el and was keenly aware of her sur- roundings. She loved art and the theater; she loved to cook and paint, and was articulate and brash. She was an intellectual, private and non- conforming woman. She could dis- cuss the philosophy of modern art and the goings-on at the World Series while hosting a formal dinner for 50 guests from 35 countries.” Mrs. Devine is survived by her husband, John E. Devine of Wash- ington, D.C.; a son, John R. Devine of Los Gatos, Calif.; and a daughter, Kate Williams of Washington, D.C. Robert A. Fearey , 85, retired FSO and the last U.S. civil adminis- trator of the Ryukyu Islands, died Feb. 28 at his home in Washington D.C. after a brief illness. Mr. Fearey was born in Garden City, N.Y. He graduated from Groton School in 1937 and Harvard University in 1941. Immediately after graduating he went to Tokyo to serve as Ambassador Joseph Grew’s private secretary. After a period of internment in Embassy Tokyo fol- lowing the attack on Pearl Harbor, and subsequent repatriation, he set- tled in Washington. Excluded from military service by an eye ailment, he went to work in the State Depart- ment unit responsible for planning the occupation of Japan. His paper on postwar agrarian land reform was adopted by Gen. Douglas Mac- Arthur, leading to profound changes in Japan’s agricultural economy. Following Japan’s surrender, Mr. Fearey returned to Tokyo with Ambassador George Atcheson, polit- ical adviser to Gen. MacArthur. In 1950 and 1951 he assisted John 68 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A Y 2 0 0 4 I N M EMORY