The Foreign Service Journal, May 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2020 77 Editor’s note: The January-February FSJ included an obituary for Mr. War- ren Carl Putman with his name spelled incorrectly. We regret the error and are republishing the corrected obituary here. n Warren Carl Putman , 93, a retired Foreign Service officer with USAID, passed away on July 21 of cardiac failure at his farm, Hawk’s Ridge, in West Vir- ginia. Mr. Putman was born in Woodhaven, N.Y., on Dec. 24, 1925. He went to high school in Lambertville, N.J. At 17, he joined the Navy to become a pilot but was told there were enough pilots in the program. Instead, he was sent to Williams College in Massachusetts to become an officer. Impatient to join World War II, he decided to get himself expelled by break- ing windows. The Navy then sent him to submarine school in New London, Conn. About to board a train to begin his deployment to the Pacific, he and a couple other mates were selected to spend the rest of the war selling war bonds on the recently captured German submarine, the U505. He received an honorable discharge from the Navy Submarine Service in 1946. Mr. Putman’s memorabilia from his time on the U505 were donated to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, where the submarine is housed. Returning to civilian life, Mr. Putman earned a bachelor’s degree in agricul- ture and animal husbandry at Rutgers University in 1950. Following graduation, he used his GI Bill benefits to attend the Sorbonne in Paris for a year and to travel extensively around Europe. In Europe, he observed the Marshall Plan in action, fueling his interest in international development. Mr. Putman served with USAID twice, from 1962 to 1965 (St. Lucia and South Korea) and from 1979 to 1986 (Somalia and Washington, D.C.). During his overseas career, he also worked for several USAID contractors. He took time off twice to run his own businesses, including Ramier Estate in St. Lucia where he raised tropical flowers, vegetables, tree crops, forage and sheep. He continued consulting after retire- ment. In 1995, he moved to a farm in rural West Virginia where he bred and sold Boykin spaniels. Mr. Putman was an avid hunter, deep sea fisherman, skier and sailor. Friends say he was a great storyteller. Some of his tales can be found in his self-published book, Put’s Tales . One of Mr. Putman’s more memo- rable experiences was a 10-day trek on foot across northern Tanzania when he helped a Maasai pal move a herd of cattle. He traveled with only water, a local “thimbo” and a rifle. Mr. Putman’s wife of 42 years, Patri- cia, who accompanied him on all his long-term assignments, died in 1994. Since 1995 he has been with Dorothy Carlson, who survives him. He is also survived by a son, Duncan (and his wife Jeanette Dickerson-Put- man) of Keuka Park, N.Y.; two daughters: Diana, an FSO with USAID (and her hus- band AdamMesser) of Carlisle, Pa., and Alexandra of Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; three granddaughters: Kristen Corl, Bridget Laubacker and Clarissa Messer; and one great-granddaughter, Claire Corl. n Floyd Hagopian , 75, a retired information management officer and the spouse of retired Office Management Specialist Patti Hagopian, died on Jan. 1 in Sebastian, Fla., after a relatively brief battle with aggressive lymphoma. Mr. Hagopian was born in Skow- hegan, Maine. He served in the Navy in Asmara, Eritrea, and then joined the Foreign Service in the 1960s as a com- municator. He worked overseas for 30 years, in London, Djakarta (now Jakarta), Moscow, Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), Bangui, Niamey, Bonn, Abidjan, Kinshasa and Pretoria. Mr. Hagopian contributed to training a new generation of information manage- ment specialists, first as instructor and then as branch chief, at the Warrenton Training Center in Virginia. He retired out of Asmara, returning full circle to where he had started overseas in the Navy. After retiring, Mr. Hagopian contin- ued for another 15 years in the Foreign Service accompanying his wife, Patti Hagopian, on her tours in Mbabane, Asunción, Lilongwe, Tokyo, Tashkent, Ouagadougou and Yaoundé. At these posts, Mr. Hagopian served variously as a community liaison officer, general services assistant, facilities maintenance assistant, security escort and information management assistant. He was an avid softball, tennis, dart and card player. He played in numer- ous international softball tournaments and while retired in Florida spent four mornings a week playing softball. He especially enjoyed pitching. In Florida leagues, he was often “designated run- ner,” and his speed gave him the nick- name “Hurricane Floyd.” Friends remember Mr. Hagopian for his easygoing manner and great sense of humor. He is survived by his wife, Patti, their two daughters, and his brother and sister. n Samuel Charles Keiter , 88, a retired Foreign Service officer, died on Jan. 8 at Buckingham’s Choice, a retire- ment community in Adamstown, Md., where he had lived for the past 20 years. IN MEMORY