The Foreign Service Journal, May 2020

80 MAY 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Mercy High School and then Bryant and Stratton College. In 1951 she joined the Foreign Service and served as personal secretary to six ambassadors, with postings in Egypt, Mexico, France, Belgium, Portugal and Washington, D.C. When she retired in 1977, Ms. Saun- ders returned to Rochester and cared for her parents until their deaths in 1986. She became a close friend of Rochelle Kashtan, who owned a small shop in Rochester where Ms. Saunders worked for several years. In 1989 she relocated to Sacramento to be near her brother, Murray A. Saunders, and his wife, Doris. There, she worked for the law firm of Jean McEvoy. In 2004 she retired and married wid- ower Thomas Allen Sills, and they lived in the North Natomas community of Heritage Park. Mr. Sills died in 2010. Ms. Sills is survived by her stepfam- ily: Ed and Wynette Sills; Catherine Sills; Rosemarie and Pike Oliver; Sara and Jim Kersting; Katelyn, Jessica and Andrew Sills; Blake and Paul Oliver; Thomas Oliver; as well as nieces Barbara (Kate Tucker) Laney, Sharon (Rick) Schnell and Debra (Marshall) Brown; and nephew Mark (Ann) Saunders and sev- eral great-nieces and great-nephews. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Sacramento Food Bank or a charity of your choice. n George Twohie , 86, a retired Senior Foreign Service officer of Reston, Va., died on Dec. 3, 2019. Born in New York City on March 4, 1932, he was the son of the late George Edward Twohie and Evelyn Rose Twohie and stepmother Caroline Twohie. A veteran of the U.S. Army, Mr. Twohie enjoyed a 36-year career as a Foreign Ser- vice officer. After retiring with the rank of Minister Counselor, he continued to con- sult and provide his diplomatic services for an additional 20 years. Mr. Twohie served his country with postings to Belgium, Libya, Iran, Turkey, Cameroon, Nepal, Vietnam, Malaysia, Germany and France, as well as Wash- ington, D.C. Friends remember that his great- est joy was his family, on whom he bestowed unconditional love, guidance, laughter, kindness, adventure and travel. Mr. Twohie is survived by his wife of 62 years, Sandra DePaoli Twohie; daugh- ters Alexa Twohie O’Flynn, Andrea D. Twohie (Ron Franks) and Anne-Marie D. Twohie; grandchildren Shane, Makenzy, Declan, Luca, Silvio and Alessandra; and a great-grandson, Avram. n Katherine Marguerite White , 93, a retired Foreign Service officer, died in Phoenix, Ariz., on March 12, from natural causes. Ms. White, who was born in Hert- ford, N.C., in 1926, was the middle child of Irvin and Katherine Winslow White. After her parents’ early deaths, she lived with her grandfather and an aunt until she graduated from Perquimans County High School. She studied commerce and math- ematics at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., and began her career with Continental Life Insurance in Richmond, Va. Later, she moved to Pittsburgh, Pa., to join Gulf Oil, and then to Tucson, Ariz., where she worked at Valley National Bank (now Chase). Ms. White joined the Foreign Service in 1962 as a personnel assistant and later as a personnel officer. She was posted to Tegucigalpa, Tokyo, Mon- tevideo, Quito, Mexico City, Madrid, Kingston and Brasilia. She also had several tours of duty with the Bureau of Personnel in Wash- ington, D.C. During her tours, she took up horseback riding and ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement. Family members recall that they loved to visit her, and that she was the consummate hostess. She entertained them with stories of astronauts, diplo- mats and other people she had met. She introduced family and friends to many foods and cultures. Ms. White also loved coming home to Tucson. After one of her early tours, she said that she simply had to visit Dis- neyland and the Grand Canyon before she saw any more of the world. On a whim, the family decided to join her. When she retired from the Foreign Service in 1985, she moved to Tucson to be near her sister and brother-in-law, Fran and Del Mickey. There, she pur- chased her first home, played golf and bridge with friends, watched opera and spent time with family. Ms. White was preceded in death by her sister, Frances, and brother-in-law, Delbert Mickey, and a nephew, Dr. J. Randolph White. She is survived by her brother, Dr. Irvin L. White (Dr. Mary Hamilton) of Omaha, Neb.; nephew David (Diane) White of Tulsa, Okla.; nieces Katherine (James) Tune of Seattle, Wash.; Debra (James) Larson of Phoenix, Ariz.; and many grandnieces and grandnephews. n If you would like us to include an obituary in In Memory, please send text to journal@ afsa.org . Be sure to include the date, place and cause of death, as well as details of the individual’s Foreign Service career. Please place the name of the AFSA member to be memorialized in the subject line of your email.