The Foreign Service Journal, May 2016

80 MAY 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Soon afterward, the Ryans moved to Washington, D.C., to embark on his career in the State Department Foreign Service. They lived in Silver Spring, Md., from 1948 to 1959. In the decade that followed, Mrs. Ryan accompanied her husband on his assign- ments as counselor for administration in France, then as U.S. ambassador to Niger. During this time she acquired an excellent command of French. In 1969, the couple moved to New York, where, after retiring from the Foreign Service, Robert Sr. served in a series of high-level positions in the United Nations Secretariat. Affectionately nicknamed the “Ener- gizer Bunny” by her relatives, Mrs. Ryan continued to pursue her many keen interests up until an infection struck her shortly before her 101st birthday. She drove her car, read widely, hosted big fam- ily get-togethers, handily solved crossword puzzles, watched classic movies, and fol- lowed domestic politics and international news. She was known as the devotedmatri- arch of a distinguished Foreign Service family, including her husband, the late Ambassador Robert J. Ryan Sr. (1914-2003), as well as her two children, Ambassador (retired) Robert J. Ryan Jr. (b. 1939), also of Daytona Beach, and the late FSOThomas W. Ryan (1943-2011) of Redding, Calif. Family members, friends and neigh- bors rejoice that she was able to stay with them for so long. Her siblings all predeceased her. Mrs. Ryan is survived by her son, Robert J. Ryan Jr., four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, as well as her daughters-in-law, nephews and nieces, with all of whom she was very close. n Robert E. Waska Sr. , 90, a retired Foreign Service officer, passed away on Jan. 16 in Santa Rosa, Calif. Born in St. Cloud, Minn., on April 8, 1925, Mr. Waska’s early years were spent in St. Cloud and Helena, Mont. He entered WorldWar II as a trombonist with the Fort Douglas, Utah Army Band. Later military assignments were on the USS General Bal- lou as part of an Army detachment to India and France. Near the end of WorldWar II, he was in charge of an Army detachment on the HMS QueenMary andmade five trips between England and the United States transporting British war brides to America. After the war, he entered college, earn- ing his undergraduate degree at Carroll College in Helena, Mont., and Carleton College in Northfield, Minn. He completed graduate studies at Harvard University. In 1951 Mr. Waska joined the U.S. For- eign Service and was stationed in Athens for three years. On Oct. 9, 1954, he married Frances Robertson of Houston, Texas. She accompanied himon diplomatic assignments to Karachi, Naples, Kingston, Bucharest, Lagos, Taipei and Beirut. He also served on the faculty of the Foreign Service Institute inWashington, D.C., and as deputy director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the State Department before retiring in 1986. He continued to work as a contractor for the Department of State for 12 years before moving to Oakmont Village in Santa Rosa, Calif., in 1998. Mr. Waska is survived by his wife, Fran- ces; his son, Robert Jr., and daughter-in- law, Elizabeth; a brother, Ronald J. Waska of Houston, Texas; three sisters, Patricia Carden of San Antonio, Texas, and Carole McAshan andMarcia Traylor of Houston, Texas; andmany nieces and nephews. Donations may be made to Catholic Charities, P.O. Box 4900, Santa Rosa CA 95402. n