The Foreign Service Journal, June 2003

Carolyn Tripp of Newark, Del.; a sis- ter, Janet Dollacker of California; and four grandchildren (Kevin, Kristin, Sarah and John). His family will be comforted by many wonder- ful memories of his love and their times with him. Mr. Ogg was interred with full mil- itary honors in Arlington National Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made in his name to either Montgomery Hospice Society, 1450 Research Blvd., #310, Rockville MD 20850, or to the American Lung Association, 14435 Cherry Lane Ct., #310, Laurel MD 20707. Idar Rimestad , 86, retired FSO and former ambassador, died of com- plications due to Alzheimer’s disease at his home in San Diego, Calif., on Feb. 13. Mr. Rimestad was born in Alsen, N.D. He received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of North Dakota in 1940. In 1967, the University bestowed upon him its “Sioux Award” in recognition of out- standing alumni achievement. In a long and distinguished diplo- matic career that took him far afield from his native North Dakota, Mr. Rimestad often had the title of sec- retary, and this prompted some con- cern at home. Mrs. Rimestad recalls: “During one of his visits to his fami- ly in North Dakota, a well-meaning relative advised him that if he would just work a little harder, perhaps he might get a promotion from secre- tarial work.” It was an incident she and her husband laughed about for years. Mr. Rimestad began professional work in 1941 with the National Youth Administration, and then held several positions as a wage analyst at the War Department, culminating as director of European command position clas- sification from 1947 to 1949. During this period he also worked briefly at the Atomic Energy Commission. In 1949 Mr. Rimestad entered the Department of State as a staff officer assigned to Frankfurt, and subse- quently served as personnel officer in Bonn (1951-1953) and Washington, D.C. (1954-1957). He received his Foreign Service officer commission in 1955. From 1957 to 1960, at the height of the Cold War, Mr. Rimestad was posted as an administrative officer to Moscow. In a memoir that is part of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training’s Diplomatic Oral History Collection, Mr. Rimestad recalled being at then-Vice President Nixon’s side in July 1959 when Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev told Western journalists that his country would soon surpass the United States in technology. The exchange that followed, in front of a kitchen exhibit of a model American house, came to be known as the “kitchen debate.” Beginning in May 1960, Mr. Rimestad found himself involved in the tense aftermath of the famous “U-2 Incident,” the capture of American Captain Gary Powers whose plane was shot down over Russia by the Soviets. Mr. Rimestad returned to Washington in 1962, and was appointed executive director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. In 1964 he was assigned to Paris as administrative counselor. While in Paris, Mr. Rimestad was detailed to New Zealand to help with the advance work for President Lyndon B. Johnson’s trip to that nation. Joining the presidential party for the trip, Mr. Rimestad worked as a liaison between White House staff and the State Department’s supply and procurement personnel. This was his first contact with the White House, he reports in his oral history. Upon returning to Paris, Mr. Rimestad received a call from the White House requesting that he meet with Johnson. As Jack Williams recounts the story in his obituary in the San Diego Union-Tribune , when the president asked his political affili- ation, Mr. Rimestad replied that he was “apolitical.” Apparently satisfied with that response and impressed by his qualifications, President Johnson appointed Mr. Rimestad deputy under secretary of State for adminis- tration, a position he held from 1967 to 1969. In 1969, President Richard Nixon appointed Mr. Rimestad as the U.S. representative to United Nations Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, with the rank of ambassador. Mr. Rimestad’s broad experience in the Foreign Service made him a popular mentor for newcomers to diplomacy. In 1970, when Richard Funkhouser, a young officer who had never supervised more than 12 employees, was assigned to over- see a staff of 3,300 Americans and Vietnamese in Bien Hoa, Vietnam, as the deputy director of Civil Operations and Revolutionary Devel- opment Support, he wrote for advice to Amb. Idar Rimestad, with whom he had served in Paris. Years later, the letter Mr. Funkhouser received from the ambassador was published in the Foreign Service Journal under the title, “Management Advice From a Master” ( FSJ , August 1996). It is a gem of management wisdom— pithy, true and eminently practical — with such advice as: “Your time at your J U N E 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 85 I N M E M O R Y