The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2015 89 Marcken, of Seattle, Wash.; Natasha de Marcken and her husband, Aaron Samp- son, and their two children, Mia and Leo Sampson, of Washington, D.C.; and Paya de Marcken, of Washington, D.C.; as well as six siblings in the United States and Belgium. n Leonardo “Nard” Neher , 92, a retired FSO and former ambassador, died onMay 11. Mr. Neher was born in 1922 in Central Ohio. His father was a minister in the Church of the Brethren and an artist; his mother was one of the fewwomen college graduates of her day. Growing up, Mr. Neher experienced the Great Depression, which at one point threatened his family with eviction and homelessness. The mort- gage protection provisions of the “New Deal” saved the family home. As a young man, Mr. Neher tried to join several military branches, including the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain, but was denied due to his vision problems. Eventually he was drafted and assigned to a communications battalion that made its way through French Africa to Italy, where he served in the occupation authority until after the war ended. This experience fed his lifelong wanderlust. Under the GI Bill, Mr. Neher earned a B.A. in French fromBowling Green State University and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Chicago. He entered the Foreign Service in 1954 and was posted to Ankara as a consular officer. Postings followed in Algeria as an economic and political officer, in South Vietnam and Syria as a commercial officer, as arms policy officer in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) as a principal officer, in Chad as deputy chief of mission, and in the Dominican Republic as counselor for political affairs. He also worked as an assistant for plans and poli- cies with the Environmental Protection Agency, as staff director of the Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service and as director of the Office of Analysis for Africa. On June 18, 1984, President Ronald Reagan nominated him to be U.S. ambas- sador to Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), where he served until 1987. During his career, Amb. Neher taught himself French, Spanish and Italian, along with workable Turkish, Arabic, Swahili and Lingala. Amb. Neher was accompanied on all his postings by his wife, the former Christine Enos, and their children. The family enjoyed exploring their country of residence. One particularly memorable outing involved a trip up the Nile River. Mrs. Neher passed away in 1996. In retirement, Amb. Neher traveled and volunteered with Kathy Wellde, his partner of 17 years. His passion for learning lasted through- out his life. Even in his last days, Amb. Neher avidly consumed The New Yorker , The Atlantic , The Foreign Service Journal , The Economist and several newspapers and books on topics ranging fromhis- tory to French slang and physics. He also enjoyed hosting friends, garden clubmem- bers and family in his three-story Capitol Hill townhouse. Amb. Neher was predeceased by his wife, Christine, and his daughter Patricia. He is survived by three children: Lisa, Dan and Jim; and six grandchildren. n Cecil S. “Cy” Richardson , 88, a retired Foreign Service officer, died on April 1 in hospice care in Virginia. Mr. Richardson was born in 1926 in New York City, where he was raised. During WorldWar II, he served in Europe with the 17th and 82nd Air Force Divisions. In the winter of 1946-1947, he volunteered for Task Force Frigid in Alaska, testing personnel and equipment under Arctic conditions. He also served as a reservist during the KoreanWar. Following military service, he graduated fromQueens College in 1953, and worked as a social worker. In 1956, Mr. Richardson joined the Foreign Service. An economic officer, his postings included Dakar, Saigon, Lagos, Niamey, Paris, Accra, Brussels, Quito, Tehran, Lima and Nassau. In November 1979, while away on leave fromhis post in Tehran, he escaped capture when the embassy was seized. After retiring in 1991, he and his wife, the former Pearl Rachlin, traveled widely. They frequentedWashington-area art gal- leries andmuseums, as well as attending many concerts and theatrical productions. Mr. Richardson was predeceased by his wife, Pearl, who died in 2012. He is survived by his niece, Shelly Ann Scott of Toronto, Canada; and cousins, Lillian Brown and Delores Cowan of Bowie, Md. Memorial donations may be made in Mr. Richardson’s name to Cleveland and Woodley Park Village, Box 11231, Washing- ton DC 20008, or to www.clevelandwood- leyparkvillage.org/donate. n Karl Spence Richardson , 76, a retired Foreign Service officer, died on March 21 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Mr. Richardson was born on Sept. 2, 1938, in Crawford, Neb., to Levi and Polly Richardson. He graduated fromCrawford High School in 1956 and immediately joined the Marine Corps. In 1959, he enrolled at the University of Colorado, where he majored in political science and met his future wife, the former Sharon Ann Holtzinger. They married on June 8, 1963. Mr. Richardson joined the Foreign Service in 1964, and he andMrs. Richardson proceeded to postings in Venezuela (1965-1967); Vietnam (1968- 1969), where he was initially a provincial