The Foreign Service Journal, May 2010

72 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 1 0 Service, representing the United States in Israel, France and Finland. He re- turned to USIA headquarters inWash- ington, D.C., in 1967 and went on to inspect the agency’s offices around the world, ending his diplomatic career at the U.S. Arms Control and Disarma- ment Agency. Throughout this time he remained in the U.S. Army Reserve, eventually reaching the rank of lieu- tenant colonel. Upon retiring, Mr. and Mrs. Mays moved to England, where he estab- lished a small publishing house, New Forest Leaves. His first book, The Splendid Shilling , won an award from the Royal Numismatic Society. The second, Mr. Hawthorne Goes to Eng- land , a biography of Hawthorne’s con- sular years in Britain, was praised by reviewers on both sides of the Atlantic. Tokens of Those Trying Times is a social history of Britain’s 19th-century silver tokens. The work for which he is best known, however, is The New Forest Book: An Illustrated Anthology. Some 20 years after publication, it remains a classic reference on the region. An au- tobiography, Sweet Magnolias and Eng- lish Lavender: An Anglo-American Romance , appeared in 2008. Friends and family members recall Mr. Mays’ prodigious memory. He was an expert onmany subjects, particularly social history, British and American lit- erary giants, and numismatics, and gave talks on these subjects all over Britain. He remained interested in current events until the end of his life and was always a diplomat, regularly trying to explain the vagaries of American poli- tics to perplexed British friends. Mr. Mays was preceded in death by his wife of 42 years, Mary Roberts. Sur- vivors include his son, Stuart Mays of Pennsylvania; two daughters, Angela Glickstein of Vermont and Melinda “Pipkin” Palmer of England; one sister, Hope Arnold of Louisville, Ga.; one brother, Harold Mays of Augusta, Ga.; six grandchildren; andmany nieces and nephews. Lucille McHenry Noel , 91, a re- tired FSO, former WAVE and wife of the late FSO Cleo Noel, died on Feb. 14 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md., of a stroke. Born in Passaic, N.J., Mrs. Noel graduated from what is now Montclair State University in 1940. In 1943, she joined theWomen Accepted for Volun- teer Emergency Services. After in- struction at theMidshipmen’s School in Northampton, Mass., she was commis- sioned as an ensign and assigned to the Bureau of Ships in Washington, D.C., and, later, to the Naval Air Station in Patuxent River, Md. In 1949, she joined the Foreign Service. Commissioned as a vice con- sul, she served two years in the State Department Bureau of Personnel be- fore being assigned to London as assis- tant to the civil air attaché. In 1951, she married Cleo A. Noel, an FSO sta- tioned in Genoa. Resigning from the Foreign Service (as was required at that time of female officers whomarried), Mrs. Noel began her life as a Foreign Service wife. Her husband was an Arabist, so much of their time was spent in theMiddle East. Overseas posts included Dhahran (where their son and daughter were born), Marseilles, The Hague, Jeddah and Khartoum, where they spent three tours. Cleo Noel was appointed ambassa- dor to Sudan in 1973 and served there very briefly before his assassination in the line of duty. After his death, Mrs. Noel re-entered the Foreign Service, and worked in the Bureau of Personnel until her retirement in 1978. In retirement, she volunteered as a docent at the Clara Barton Home in Glen Echo, Md., and in the Foreign Service Book Room. She enjoyed par- ticipating in the Springfield Garden Club and the Little Falls Library Liter- ary Salon. Her interests included gar- dening, travel and, above all, reading. Survivors include her son, JohnNoel (and his wife, Jaclyn), of Phoenix, Ariz.; her daughter, Janet Regan (and her husband, Patrick) of Chevy Chase, Md.; one grandson and four granddaughters; and her sister, Frances McHenry. Claudia Davenport-Romeo , 54, a member of the Foreign Service, died on Feb. 7 at her home in Annandale, Va., of leukemia. Born in Bethesda, Md., and a grad- uate of Surrattsville Senior High School in Clinton, Md., Mrs. Romeo joined the Foreign Service in 1976. During a 32- year career, she served in Lusaka, Hong Kong, San Salvador, Rome, Brussels, Canberra, Brasilia, Rabat, Madrid and Washington, D.C. Her final post was Muscat, where she was the human re- sources officer. “Claudia’s warm personality and her focus on helping others touched every- one who met her,” associates in the Bu- reau of Near Eastern Affairs recall. “With just the right mix of humor and reality, she mentored and guided many Foreign Service colleagues and drew great respect and admiration from those who knew her.” A dedicated employee and mother of four, Mrs. Romeo always found time for community service with the Ameri- I N M E M O R Y