The Foreign Service Journal, September 2003

John Robert Diggins , Jr., 81, retired FSO, died March 24 at his home in Austin, Texas, after a long ill- ness of renal cell cancer and Lewy body dementia. Mr. Diggins, an only child, was born in Boston, Mass. His father raised him; Washington, D.C. was his hometown. During World War II he was in the Navy, and served his coun- try for two years in the Atlantic theater and two years in the Pacific. He attended George Washington University. In 1947, Mr. Diggins began his 32- year-long career with the State Department. His first post was Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela, followed by Caracas, Reykjavik, Antwerp, Nice, Paris and Toronto. He was consul general in Windsor, Santo Domingo, London and Toronto. From 1972 to 1974 Mr. Diggins was the director of the Visa Office. He received the State Department Superior Honor Award at the end of his tour in Santo Domingo in 1972. Mr. Diggins retired in 1979. Mr. Diggins enjoyed retirement in Austin, Texas. For many years he was a tireless and dedicated volunteer worker for the St. Vincent de Paul Society. He and his wife traveled extensively. Before his debilitating ill- ness, Mr. Diggins wrote a detailed and extensive autobiography, recounting his adventurous and full life. This book will now be even more treasured by his family. His first wife, Harriet Cotter Diggins, the mother of his older chil- dren: John, Andrew, Mary-Alice, Therese, Thomas and Ann, preceded Mr. Diggins in death. He leaves Gisela Sperling Diggins, his wife of 43 years and the mother of his younger children: Paul, Christina and Elizabeth. All his children and their spouses, 15 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren survive him. Mary Nell Harris , 78, retired FSO, died suddenly at her home in Athens, Ga., on May 9. Born in Dothan, Ala., Ms. Harris was a graduate of Peace College in Raleigh, N.C. She worked in Japan and Germany for the American Red Cross before joining the State Department. Ms. Harris served in Brussels, Vienna, Florence, Moscow, Monrovia, and Malawi, and retired from the Foreign Service in 1988. After retirement, she made her home in Athens, where she was a member of Emmanuel Church, and a volunteer at Our Daily Bread, the Emmanuel Thrift House and the East Georgia Chapter of the American Red Cross. Ms. Harris was a member of the American Red Cross Overseas Association and the American Foreign Service Association. Ms. Harris is survived by one brother, Charles Julian Harris of Athens, cousins, many nieces and nephews, her devoted friend Charlotte Leedy and a host of other friends. John “Johnnie” W. Johnston , 86, retired FSO, died April 28 in Port Charlotte, Fla. Mr. Johnston spent more than 30 years in the Foreign Service. He retired in 1973 as Director of the Agency for International Develop- ment’s Office of Personnel and Manpower, and received USAID’s Distinguished Honor Award in recog- nition of a distinguished career in gov- ernment service. He served as USAID mission director in several Latin American countries and deputy assistant administrator of two staff offices in Washington. In 1943, Mr. Johnston launched his foreign aid career as an agriculture officer in Brazil. After service in the Navy in World War II, he was an agri- culture officer in Guatemala, and then director of the International Coopera- tion Administration missions in Ha- vana and Colombia. He returned to Washington to attend the National War College course for senior officers before going back overseas to serve as USAID director in Mexico. Later, he was appointed deputy assistant admin- istrator for material resources. Johnston also served as special assis- tant to the deputy U.S. coordinator for the Alliance for Progress, advisor to Governor Nelson Rockefeller’s Presi- dential Mission in Latin America, and associate assistant administrator for administration in USAID’s Bureau for Vietnam. Survivors include his wife of 26 years, Sandra Padilla-Johnston; two sons, John Scott Johnston of Panama and recently retired USAID FSO Gerald Reed (wife Leticia) Johnston of Arlington, Va.; four grandchildren, Scott Adam and Eric William of Miami, Fla., and Steven Christopher S E P T E M B E R 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 75 I N M EMORY