The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2006

Mrs. Yost joined a group of foreign FSO wives, including Annalise Ken- nan (the wife of George Kennan) and Elise Henderson (the wife of Loy Henderson), who met regularly to help each other navigate their new country. During the war years, with her hus- band at the State Department, Mrs. Yost assisted with fundraising for the Red Cross and worked on Polish war relief. In 1946, when Amb. Yost was sent as chargé d’affaires to Bangkok, Mrs. Yost began her life as a career Foreign Service wife, packing and unpacking as well as entertaining, cajoling, assisting and persuading on four different conti- nents. Besides postings in Europe, Mrs. Yost had to contend with house- hold rats and no running water in Laos as well as having her home turned into an international relief center after an earthquake inMorocco. In 1961, when Amb. Yost was called to serve at the U.N. with Adlai Stevenson, and later, when President Nixon called himout of retirement to serve as the U.S. ambas- sador to the U.N., Mrs. Yost found her- self on a new world stage where her tal- ents made her a popular figure with several generations of diplomats and their wives. When Amb. Yost retired from his U.N. posting in 1971, the couple set- tled in Washington, D.C. After her husband’s death in 1981, Mrs. Yost continued her involvement with UNICEF and the United Nations Development Fund for Women, while also involving herself in various Polish assistance groups. She was a member of the U.S. United Nations Associa- tion, the Women’s Democratic Club, the World Federation of U.N. Associa- tions and the Polish-American Associa- tion. She also continued to travel exten- sively. In 2003 a fall forced her to a nursing home in Bethesda, where she remained until her death. Mrs. Yost is survived by her three children, Nicholas of San Francisco, Calif., Casimir of Bethesda, Md., and Felicity of New York, N.Y.; a sister; three grandchildren and two step- grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be sent to the AFSA Scholarship Fund, 2101 E Street NW, Washington DC 20037. J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 6 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 63 I N M E M O R Y