The Foreign Service Journal, May 2014

72 MAY 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL “América Joven,” about the interests of young people in the United States. In 1979, she married Agustin Merello, an Argentine futurist. The couple retired to Austin in 1987, where they enjoyed the Learning Activities for Mature People program at the University of Texas, did mediation and taught adult literacy, and hosted a Tibetan refugee for his first months in the United States. A member of the Foreign Service Group of Texas, Ms. Shelby-Merello was a docent for more than 10 years at the LBJ Library and kept an eagle eye on local and national politics. The couple traveled widely, visiting Dr. Merello’s family in Argentina; the North American Institute in Barcelona, where Ms. Shelby-Merello had served as direc- tor; her small medieval house in Tala- manca, Spain; and the town of Tregaron in Wales, fromwhich her ancestor Evan Shelby emigrated in 1735. Ms. Shelby-Merello was predeceased by her husband. She leaves a sister, Jane Richardson and her family of North Carolina, and many cousins in Austin and elsewhere. n Gerald M. Sutton , 78, a retired Foreign Service officer, died in Las Vegas, Nev., on Feb. 12. Born in Chicago, Mr. Sutton and his family moved to Los Angeles; he later graduated from Venice High School and then UCLA in political science (with hon- ors) in 1956. He then did postgraduate work at the National University of Mexico. During his Foreign Service career, Mr. Sutton served in Spain, Jamaica, Colombia, Cuba, Japan, Nicaragua and Ecuador. He was chief of the political section in Nicaragua from 1974 to 1976 and in Ecuador from 1976 to 1979, where he also served as chargé d’affaires in 1979. In Washington, D.C., he served as deputy director of Japanese affairs (1979- 1981), staff director of the Kissinger Com- mission on Central America (1984-1985) and chief of the Department of State’s INR Watch (1985-1986). As director of the Office of Terrorism and Narcotics Analysis from 1986 to 1990, Mr. Sutton’s intelligence analysis led to the apprehension of the hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise ship. As a senior inspector in the Office of the Inspector General toward the end of his service, Mr. Sutton eventually visited more than 110 countries. He received several Superior Honor, Meritorious Honor and Career Achieve- ment awards from the State Department and was decorated with the National Medal of Merit by the Ecuadoran govern- ment for his contribution to the transition frommilitary rule to democracy in the late 1970s. In addition to State Department assignments, Mr. Sutton was a member of then-Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney’s team on the Continuity of Government project for post-nuclear attack planning. He also served as deputy chairman of the Interagency Committee on Terrorism Reporting. Following his retirement from the State Department in 1998, Mr. Sutton moved to Las Vegas. He was an avid sports fan (backing the Redskins, Lakers and Dodgers) and a collector of modern and folk art. Mr. Sutton is survived by his devoted wife, Shigeko Sutton, his son Matthew, and his sister Courtney. n Maria Lucia Trezise, 83, the wife of retired FSO Arthur Dayton Trezise, died on Feb. 26, 2013, in Gunnison, Colo., where she had relocated to be with her son’s family. Born the 11th of 12 siblings on July 12, 1929, in the upstate São Paulo city of Barretos. Mrs. Trezise became known as “Puzas” as a young child; it was a nick- name her father, Dr. Francisco de Assis Bezerra, gave to her. She completed her postgraduate stud- ies at the Faculdade de Psicologia Sedes Sapientiae in São Paulo, later working there with abandoned children. In 1960, she moved to Rio de Janeiro as an auditor with the Ministry of Finance. In 1966 she returned to São Paulo, where she married Arthur Dayton Trezise of St. Albans, N.Y., who had been trans- ferred to Brazil by his employer, the American Can Company. The couple raised three children in Brazil, where they attended American schools. On her retirement from the Finance Ministry, Mrs. Trezise accompanied her husband in his second career, as a U.S. Foreign Service officer assigned to São Paulo, Bogota and Paris. In Bogota, she put her lifelong dedica- tion to children and her knowledge of Spanish and French to use in counseling single mothers at a religious shelter. In Paris, she ably complemented her hus- band in his responsibilities as commercial counselor. Since 1974, the couple resided in both Fayston, Vt., and São Paulo. Mrs. Trezise is survived by her hus- band, Arthur, and their children and grandchildren: Bridie Bezerra Musser, her husband, Steven, and their sons Will and Ben of Minneapolis, Minn.; Arthur A.B. Trezise, his wife, Heather, and their chil- dren Clara, Macy and Wyatt of Gunnison, Colo; and Patrick Bezerra Trezise and his wife, Silvia, of Sant Cugat del Valles, Spain. She also leaves behind two sisters, Silvia Camara and Neuso Reiff, and a beloved group of nieces and nephews in Brazil. n