The Foreign Service Journal, May 2023

72 MAY 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL IN MEMORY n Janet Beik, 69, a retired Foreign Service officer, died in Freedom, Pa., on Dec. 25, 2022, of cancer. Ms. Beik was born in Fayetteville, Ark., on Nov. 24, 1953, to Leland and Ruth (McVay) Beik. She received a B.A. in history from Swarthmore College in 1975 and earned both an M.A. (1980) and a Ph.D. (1984) in African studies from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. During her studies at Wisconsin, Ms. Beik served two years in the Peace Corps in Niger, West Africa, and spent two additional years there under a Fulbright scholarship. She published her disserta- tion, Hausa Theatre in Niger: A Contem- porary Oral Ar t, and several articles on Hausa theater traditions. Ms. Beik began her 25-year career with the State Department in Khartoum, where she met her future husband, Robert Claus, who was also in the Foreign Service. Other overseas assignments included Montreal, Banjul, Kampala, and Abidjan. While on sabbatical, Ms. Beik served as foreign policy adviser to Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) and earned an M.A. in national security strategy at the National War College in Fort McNair. In Washington, D.C., Ms. Beik’s assignments included the bureaus of African Affairs, East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and International Organization Affairs, and the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization. Ms. Beik’s last assignment was as deputy U.S. representative to the Orga- nization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons inThe Hague. The State Department awarded Ms. Beik three Meritorious and three Superior Honor awards for her work, and she was honored by having two children named for her in The Gambia and Côte d’Ivoire. Ms. Beik is survived by her sisters Donna Wulff, Paula Beik (and spouse Evan), and Linda Beik; brother David Beik (and spouse Patti); brother-in-law Greg Mack; and five nieces and neph- ews. She was preceded in death by her parents, sister Carol Mack, and husband Robert Claus. n Thomas Stanley “Stan” Brooks, 91, a retired Senior Foreign Service officer, died after a brief illness on Feb. 2, 2023, in Denver, Colo. Mr. Brooks was born in Rawlins, Wyo., in 1932 and spent his boyhood nearby in the remote refinery town of Parco- Sinclair with parents J.G. and Adele Brooks and older sister Betty. In 1950 Mr. Brooks graduated from Rawlins High School. From 1950 to 1954, he attended the University of Wyoming, where he studied French and was a celebrated actor in the theater depart- ment. During his senior year at UW, Stan was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to continue his French language studies in Rennes, Normandy. In 1958, after two years in the U.S. Army, Mr. Brooks joined the U.S. Foreign Service. His first post was Laos, where he met his future wife, Claire Stevenson, a young woman from Boston who was also working there. In 1962 U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson presented Mr. Brooks with a Meritorious Service Award for his brav- ery in gaining the rescue of American hostages (including Ms. Stevenson) who were being held by rebels during the battle of Vientiane in 1960. After two years studying Mandarin, Mr. Brooks was posted to Hong Kong as chief of the press monitoring unit and an economic officer. He was part of a new cohort of China specialists formed in the late 1950s following the decimation of the China service during the McCarthy years. He was then assigned as a political officer in Kathmandu from 1967 to 1971. There, he was informally known as the “mountain liaison officer,” responsible for coordinating with U.S. climbing expedi- tions to the Himalayas, a role he loved. After stateside assignments in Michi- gan (for advanced area studies at the University of Michigan) and Washington, D.C. (as a foreign affairs analyst), Mr. Brooks went to Beijing, where he served with then-Ambassador George H.W. Bush. Mr. Brooks’ diplomatic career cen- tered on China; his fluency in Chinese served him well in multiple postings across the region from the early 1960s to the early 1990s. He served as a political officer in Hong Kong, deputy director of the American Institute in Taiwan, and consul general in Shanghai. From 1988 to 1990, Mr. Brooks served as chargé d’affaires in Seoul. His last assignment was as director of the American Institute of Taiwan, capping three separate postings to Taiwan over his career. During his 36-year career, Mr. Brooks received numerous awards. In addition to the award for his actions in Laos, he received a Superior Honor Award in 1977 for action taken in response to the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed more than 750,000 people. In 1987 he received another Supe- rior Honor Award for the professional arrangements made for President Ronald Reagan’s visit to China while Mr. Brooks was consul general in Shanghai. In 1991 he received the Distinguished Honor Award for his performance as deputy chief of mission and chargé d’affaires in Seoul. Over the years, Mr. Brooks handled three presidential and three vice-presidential visits.