90 MAY 2024 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 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. Mr. Walsh was proud of the refugee children he mentored from elementary school to adulthood. He forged lifelong friendships and was a front porch icon in his Fredericksburg community and a faithful member of his coffee and book groups. When not reading, he found delight in his woodworking projects and his rose garden. Family members recall his disarming personality, penchant for storytelling, fearlessness, love of history and foreign affairs, strong moral code, and unbounded generosity. Mr. Walsh was, as one daughter explained, “unapologetically himself.” Mr. Walsh is survived by his wife, Kathleen; his daughters, Catherine, Bridget, and Frances; their spouses; and his grandchildren. n Sarah Evelyn Wright, 75, a retired education specialist with USAID, died on Jan. 28, 2024, in Chicago, Ill., after a brief and unexpected illness. Ms. Wright was born on Dec. 9, 1948, in Marianna, Ark., to Lavurn and Simmie Wright Sr. She spent her youth in St. Louis and Chicago. After graduating from DuSable High School in Chicago, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where many relatives lived, to attend college. She graduated from California State University, Hayward, with a B.A. in history in 1974 and earned an M.A. in multicultural and bilingual education in 1976. In 1982 Ms. Wright joined the Peace Corps and served in Gaborone. Following her time in the Peace Corps, she worked for the Botswana Council of Women. Upon returning stateside, she attended Teachers College, Columbia University, and graduated with both a master’s degree and a doctorate in education (Ed.D.) in 1988. After a brief stint working for the Anti-Defamation League in New York City, Ms. Wright joined the School of Education faculty at California State University–Fresno in 1989. In 1991 Ms. Wright joined USAID as a regional education officer, serving in Guatemala City (1995-1998), Lilongwe (19982002), Islamabad (2002-2005), Nairobi (2005-2009), and Washington, D.C. After retiring from USAID in 2011, Ms. Wright settled in Chicago, making her home in the Hyde Park district. She was an active member of the University of Chicago Service League, a parishioner and volunteer of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, and a regular book club member. Recently she volunteered with Catholic Charities to help new immigrants find housing. She also served on a committee to establish a Chicago charter school focused on science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. Ms. Wright was an avid traveler, often going on adventures with her younger sister, Dorothy. The sisters traveled to many places, including Kenya’s Masai Mara, Paris, Seville, Cape Town, and London. Ms. Wright was deeply devoted to family and was considered a role model by many of her nieces and nephews. She is survived by her older sister, Samella Johnson, of Long Beach, Calif., and a younger brother, Al-Pierre El, and a younger sister, Dorothy Lazard, both of Oakland, Calif. n
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