The Foreign Service Journal, May 2010

M A Y 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 75 Vietnam. Subsequent postings includ- ed Taipei, Tromso (Norway) and Bei- jing, where he served as political coun- selor. He was there when Mao died, Deng returned and young Chinese demonstrated at the Democracy Wall. Mr. Sylvester’s final assignments were as consul general in Bordeaux, as an inspector in the department and as consul general in Shanghai. He retired in 1989, just after the tumultuous Tien- anmen events. Ironically, in view of his and his fam- ily’s Navy background in Shanghai, one of his last official duties was receiving the U.S. Seventh Fleet for a port visit there, the first in the country since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. After retirement, he lived first in Bernardston, Mass., serving for a while as a town selectman. In 2002, he and his wife moved to Hereford, Ariz. He leaves his wife, Evelyn Kluger Sylvester of Hereford; two sons, John A. Sylvester of Durham, N.C., and FSO Thomas Y. Sylvester, now in Washing- ton, D.C.; and four grandchildren. Merrill C. “Buzz” Wohlman , 56, a special agent with the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, died on Jan. 24 at the Ogeechee Area Hospice in States- boro, Ga., of cancer. Born in Ft. Benning, Ga., to Ser- geant Major Stanley R. Wohlman and Mary Laura Wohlman, Mr. Wohlman was the fourth of eight children. He grew up on military bases around the world and, upon graduation from Reid Ross High School in Fayetteville, N.C., moved to Cullowhee, N.C., to attend Western Carolina University. Graduat- ing in 1979 with a degree in psychology, he worked in Seneca, S.C., as a youth counselor for the state. After several years, he changed ca- reers and worked in the construction industry as a cost estimator for the La Fleur Daniels Construction Company onmajor projects in the Tennessee Val- ley and JacksonHole, Wyo. During this time, he became an avid outdoorsman. He loved camping, skiing and scuba diving and carried that love with him into the Foreign Service. Mr. Wohlman joined the State De- partment as a special agent with the Bu- reau of Diplomatic Security in 1986. In a 24-year career, he served overseas in San Salvador, El Salvador, Ankara, Turkey, Monterrey, Mexico and Egypt. He had domestic tours in theMiami Field Office and with the Secretary of State’s detail, theMobile Security Divi- sion, the Atlanta Resident Office and the Salt Lake City Resident Office, and also coordinated security for the Win- ter Olympics. Colleagues and friends remember his keen sense of duty tempered by a sharp sense of humor, his love of the outdoors and his great culinary skill. He is survived by his mother, Mary Laura Palmer; his wife, Norma, and their daughter Mariah; three brothers, Roger Johnson, Michael Johnson and DS Special Agent Jake Wohlman; and four sisters, Polly Stewart, Mary Hamby Wohlman, Sarah Wohlman and Josefa Wells. Memorial contributions may be made in his name to the Ogeechee Area Hospice, P.O. Box 531, Statesboro GA 30408. ■ I N M E M O R Y