The Foreign Service Journal, May 2017

64 MAY 2017 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL and served on the board of directors of the Fabergé Foundation and The George Washington University’s Public Diplo- macy Institute, and as president of the Public Diplomacy Council. In retirement, Mr. Russell continued his involvement with music. He was active as a bass and helped plan the Yale Alumni Chorus’ international sing- ing tours. In 2003, his first season, they were broadcast live from the Kremlin. The group performed in South America, England, the Netherlands, South Africa, Mexico, Guatemala and, in 2010, Cuba. Serving on the YAC board from 2003 to 2010, he taught those involved in over- seas tour planning how to approach and work with the public affairs teams at the various embassies and consulates. Mr. Russell also maintained a lifelong commitment to Camp Rising Sun, a camp in Rhinebeck, N.Y., that brings together young, inner-city Americans and youth from around the world. Rus- sell’s attendance at CRS during the 1940s was a formative experience. Over the years, he used his contacts around the world to help facilitate the travel of young people to the camp, served on its board of directors and was always available to camp alumni and staff, attending many summer and world reunions. Family members and friends remember Mr. Russell as a lively man of elegance, eloquence, character, warmth, wisdom, generosity and kindness. They recall his joie de vivre , love of the out- doors, and keen skill with languages and both word and card games. Mr. Russell was predeceased by his wife, Lydie, and his granddaughter Sophia. He is survived by two sons, McKinney Jr. (“Ken”), and his wife Athena Koutso, of Leominster, Mass., and Kyle, and his wife Nina Manol- son, of Somerville, Mass.; a daughter, Valerie, and her husband Neil Emmott, of Bristol, England; five grandchildren: Maia, Jeffrey, Kobi, Ruby and Alfred; one great-grandchild, Noah; and two broth- ers, Donald Russell of Florida and Keith Russell of California. Memorial contributions in his name may be made to Camp Rising Sun at http://tinyurl.com/hxu6v4r. n Barrett Krausz Stephens, 93, wife of the late retired Foreign Service Officer Bart Nelson Stephens, died on March 13 in Lynchburg, Va. Mrs. Stephens was born in Baltimore, Md., and graduated from Randolph- Macon Women’s College in 1945 with majors in art and biology. From 1946 to 1949 she worked as a photogrammetrist at the U.S. Army Map Services in Wash- ington, D.C. She accompanied her husband to Foreign Service posts in Greece, Germany, Poland, Austria and Thailand from 1950 until 1982, when he retired from the Senior Foreign Service. In embassies and consulates in these countries Mrs. Stephens supported cul- tural programs for which her husband was responsible and entertained foreign government and cultural leaders, often at large events. The receptions she hosted for the 110-member Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra during its 10-day visit to Poland in 1964 were particularly memorable. Mrs. Stephens’ art background and expertise enabled her to design and decorate the interiors of many cultural centers and embassies, such as the new Amerika Haus cultural center in Nurem- berg in 1957 and the ambassador’s residence in Bangkok in the 1970s. In Bangkok Mrs. Stephens also organized and presented an acclaimed charity fashion show on the occasion of the Queen Mother’s birthday in 1980. Mrs. Stephens was an artist whose work won prizes in a 1966 Department of State exhibition. In 1967, she dis- played her own work together with Pol- ish paintings she and her husband had collected during their tour in Poland at the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center. Her paintings graced the covers of four issues of The Foreign Service Journal . Mrs. Stephens was active in the Republican Lynchburg City Committee, and also served as a delegate to state conventions. Mrs. Stephens was predeceased by her husband in 2015. Survivors include four daughters, Tracey Stephens of Nutley, N.J., Schuyler Stephens of Falls Church, Va., Holly Stephens Tunstall of Vienna, Va., Sinah Stephens Kostik of Wixom, Mich.; and five grandchildren. n Anastassia Thamakas, 86, a retired Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Information Agency, died on Nov. 18, 2016, in Alexandria, Va. The daughter of William and Anasta- sia Chantiles Thamakas, Ms. Thamakas was born in the District of Columbia on June 25, 1930. Ms. Thamakas was a pioneer in women’s broadcasting, achieving the position of scheduling coordinator for Voice of America. She worked with broadcasting luminary Edward R. Mur- row, as well as coordinating interviews with distinguished officials such as President Lyndon Johnson. Soon after her retirement from USIA in early 1985, Ms. Thamakas helped start Washington News Network, the largest independent television news bureau in Washington, D.C., where she served as assignment editor. Ms. Thamakas is survived by her