The Foreign Service Journal, May 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2018 75 He became a frequent speaker on the Middle East and Far East at colleges, universities andWorld Affairs Councils. President of Balboa Park New Interna- tional Cottages, Inc., he also chaired the Balboa Park New International Cottages Construction Group and was on the execu- tive board of the House of Public Relations at Balboa Park. Mr. Novinger also served on the gov- erning board of Steele Canyon High School and was a member of the Jamul-Dulzura Community Planning Group. He and his wife were co-chairs of the advisory board of the San Diego Diplomacy Council, served on the San Diego International Affairs Board and led the nonprofit Reme- dios Naturales in Peru that researches medicinal uses of jungle plants. He was a founding boardmember of Make Music Los Angeles. Mr. andMrs. Novinger are survived by his daughter, Saya Joy Novinger; her son Joseph Harmes III; his parents, George and Anne Marie Novinger; and his sisters, Mary Novinger Noble and Barbara Novinger. Donations honoring their memory may be sent to HouseofPeru.com. n Richard Ripley Peterson, 78, a retired Foreign Service officer, died at home in Bristow, Va., on Jan. 25 after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Mr. Peterson was born in Chicago, Ill., and attended Northern Illinois Uni- versity. He joined the State Department Foreign Service in 1963 and served for 35 years, with postings to Bermuda, the United Kingdom, Mexico and the Philippines. In retirement, he honed his cooking skills and explored his love of technol- ogy, while never giving up the travel bug. His family remembers him for his kindness and sense of humor. Mr. Peterson is survived by his wife, Sally, and his children, Elizabeth and Thomas. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, where he received excel- lent care during his illness. n Ruth Sorensen Singer, 86, the spouse of retired USAID Foreign Service Officer Derek Singer, died on Jan. 10 in Falls Church, Va. Mrs. Singer, the only daughter of the late C.A. and Annis Chaikin Sorensen, was born and raised in Nebraska. She graduated fromUniversity of Nebraska in 1952 and from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in 1955. She married Derek S. Singer, and the pair began a career in public service, including Peace Corps assignments in Bolivia and Tunisia, public television administration in Chicago and USAID postings in the Congo, Kenya, Ecuador and Cameroon. Family members recall Mrs. Singer’s extensive community involvement, includ- ing participation in the civil rights move- ment, work with the Kennedy administra- tion, involvement in the Unitarian Church, speech writing and teaching English. A lifelong member of the Democratic Party, she worked with former Senator Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) to publish The Case Against Hunger (Cowels, 1970), and was a Democratic delegate from Illinois for the 1976 presidential election. Predeceased by her brothers Robert, Tom, Ted and Phil, Mrs. Singer is survived by her husband, Derek, of Falls Church, Va.; her children, Vicky, Alex, Ted and Jason; and her grandchildren. Mrs. Singer donated her body to science. n Edward O. Stellmacher, 93, a retired Foreign Service officer, died on Jan. 7, 2017, in New Braunfels, Texas. Mr. Stellmacher joined the Foreign Service in 1956, serving in Cali, Guatemala City, Juarez, Piedras Negras, Munich, Manila and Hermosillo, before his retire- ment in 1975. His family recalls that he loved playing his Hammond organ and gave concerts at every post, including the Philippines. Mr. Stellmacher was preceded in death by his wife, Mary, and son, Philip. He is survived by daughters Linda Stellmacher- Lester and Barbara Stellmacher-Squires. n Nilva J. Tull, 85, the spouse of retired Foreign Service Officer James L. Tull, died on Jan. 20 in Virginia Beach, Va. Mrs. Tull was the daughter of an Iowa farmer and her husband was the son of a hardware store owner in Eldora, Iowa. After graduation fromEldora High in 1949, both attended Iowa State Teachers College. Mrs. Tull graduated in 1951 and began teaching elementary school in Grady, Iowa, while Mr. Tull enlisted in the U.S. Navy. The couple married in April 1953 at the Naval Air Station in Alameda, Calif., and later moved to Boulder, Colo., where Mr. Tull earned degrees from the Univer- sity of Colorado. Mr. Tull entered the Foreign Service in 1958. Over the next 32 years, Mrs. Tull accompanied him to posts in Cali, Lon- don, Montevideo, Santo Domingo, Nicosia, Bogotá and San José. Mr. Tull retired from the State Department in 1990. Mrs. Tull was preceded in death by her husband, who died onMarch 12, 2011, in Alexandria, Va. Survivors include the couple’s children, Stephen Tull of Crofton, Md.; Elizabeth (Tull) Arbon of Centennial, Colo.; Chris- topher Tull of Virginia Beach, Va.; and two grandsons, Trevor Tull and GrahamArbon. Mrs. Tull will be buried in Eldora, Iowa, alongside her husband. n