The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2006

52 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 6 Thomas W. Ainsworth , 84, a retired FSO of Chambersburg and Amberson Valley, Pa., died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family, on April 1. Born in Beloit, Wisc., Mr. Ainsworth earned a B.A. in English from Yale University in 1942 and then began graduate school. His studies were interrupted by World War II. As a U.S. naval officer, he learned Japanese and served in the Pacific until the end of the war. After the war, Mr. Ainsworth joined the Foreign Service. He stud- ied Cantonese at the Army Language School, and served in embassies and consular offices throughout the Far East, including Fukuoka, Kobe, Tokyo, Taipei, Saigon and Hong Kong. His final overseas post was as consul general in Osaka-Kobe. Mr. Ainsworth is survived by his wife, Wilma “Sue” Ainsworth; three sons, Bruce H. Ainsworth of Cheverly, Md., Thomas W. Ainsworth Jr. (and wife, Terry) of Woodbridge, Va., and Daniel E. Ainsworth (and wife, Becky) of Severn, Md.; two daughters, Jean Ainsworth Zablin (and husband, Gary) of Philadelphia, Pa., and Anne Ains- worth Kirkland (and husband, David) of Houston, Texas; and nine grandchil- dren: Candice and Charles Zablin; Jason, Daniel, and Andrew Ainsworth; Diana and Will Kirkland; and Saman- tha Ballard and Alexis Ainsworth. He is also survived by his sister, Elizabeth Ainsworth Steinberg, and her four sons. Donations may be made to the Hospice of the Good Shepherd, 2700 Luther Drive, Chambersburg PA 17201, or to the Yale University Office of Development, P.O. Box 2038, New Haven CT 06521-2038. Edmund O. Barker , 86, a former member of the Foreign Service, died at his home in Montgomery, Ala., on Jan. 9 after a short illness. A graduate of the University of Nebraska (Omaha) and the University of California (Los Angeles), Mr. Barker joined the War Department in 1940 as an editor and analyst. He was appointed vice consul at Noumea, New Caledonia, in 1943, and subse- quently served as a diplomat in Addis Ababa and Bangkok during and after World War II. After leaving the Foreign Service, he undertook graduate studies at UCLA in 1949, then married and relocated to Montgomery, Ala., where he began a distinguished, 25-year career as a civilian employee with Maxwell Air Force Base. His last and longest position was with the staff of the Air Force’s Air War College pro- fessional journal, AU Review . He was one of the oldest members of the Maxwell Officers’ Club, and enjoyed his connection with the base during his retirement years. He was an active sponsor of foreign students attending the Maxwell Air Force Base War College, and volunteered as an “English as a Second Language” teacher. Mr. Barker’s love of international travel was rivaled only by his interest in art, both of which provided great joy in his life. He also enjoyed the sport of fencing, serving as coach while at UCLA and assisting the Huntington College fencing team in Montgomery in his later years. Mr. Barker’s wife, Joan Arnold Barker, and son, Thomas Barker, pre- ceded him in death. He is survived by three children: Mary Barker of Long Island, N.Y.; Brent Barker (and his wife, Marcia) of Fairfax, Va., who is a diplomatic security agent in the Foreign Service; and Jeffrey Barker (and his wife, Ana) of Mobile, Ala.; and four grandchildren: Alexander, Francesca, Edmund and Martin Barker. Robert Bruce Black , 85, an economist and former FSO with USAID, died on April 6 in Biddeford, Maine, of complications from a stroke. Mr. Black was a native of Arlington, Mass. He was educated at Philips Exeter Academy, Harvard College, the Harvard Littauer School of Public Administration and the London School of Economics. He earned a Ph.D. in economics and political sci- ence from Harvard University. In 1942 he entered the U.S. Navy, serv- ing in action on a destroyer during the entire campaign in the Pacific, rising in rank from ensign to lieutenant com- mander. He was present at the signing of the peace treaty in Japan. After the war, Mr. Black began a distinguished government career on assignment to the President’s Mater- ials Policy Commission, which re- viewed long-term needs for strategic natural resources. His foreign affairs career began during the Marshall Plan, when he served as an economist I N M EMORY