The Foreign Service Journal, September 2007

84 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 7 Foreign Service in 1993. Following retirement, Mr. Mc- Gowan accepted temporary assign- ments from State as an administrative officer in various African posts. He recently provided administrative ex- pertise and support to the African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur, where he was responsible for super- vising the contractual operations in support of the A.U. mission in Sudan. But, as colleagues there recalled, Mr. McGowan was “much more than a ‘government technical monitor.’ He was a respected colleague, a leader, a friend, a father figure, and someone whom we could always count on dur- ing difficult times.” Shortly before his death, he served as a member of the Sudan Programs Group of the State Department’s Bureau of African Af- fairs. Mr. McGowan is survived by his wife, Lucia Bernardo McGowan of Arlington, Va.; a daughter, Marcia B. McGowan of Arlington, Va.; a brother, and four sisters. James Moceri , 91, a retired Foreign Service officer with USIA, died on March 14 in Auburn, Wash., of a heart attack. Mr. Moceri received his B.A. degree in 1936 from the University of Washington. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946 and was a veteran of the Iwo Jima and Okinawa battles in World War II. From 1946 to 1947, he was a Rockefeller Foun- dation Fellow, and from 1947 to 1949 he taught history at Farragut College. As a Fulbright scholar in Italy from 1949 to 1951, he studied historical interpretations of the French Revolu- tion at the Italian Institute of Histori- cal Studies. He joined the Foreign Service in 1951, and was assigned to Florence as director of the USIS center there until 1956. He then served, successively, as acting chief public affairs officer in Taipei, representative to the Naval War College, deputy director of USIA’s Office of Policy & Plans, CPAO in Khartoum and Conakry, Edward R. Murrow Fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplo- macy and, finally, assistant director of USIA’s Office of Research. In 1974, he received the Edward R. Murrow Award from Tufts Uni- versity for excellence in public diplo- macy. Mr. Moceri retired in 1976. S.I. “Sy” Nadler , 91, a retired Foreign Service officer with USIA, died on July 3 in Washington, D.C., after a brief illness. Born in New York City, Mr. Nadler attended Columbia University from 1932 to 1937, receiving his B.A. from Columbia College and M.A. from Teachers College. He wrote radio scripts professionally and, for the two years between leaving Columbia and entering military service in March 1941, taught high school in New York City. He began his military service writ- ing field manuals and scripts for train- ing films. In 1944, he was assigned to the Office of Strategic Services, and served with that organization in China. He was separated from the military in September 1946 and then joined the CIA, later transferring to USIA. Mr. Nadler served overseas in Tientsin, Singapore, Taipei, Buenos Aires and Ankara. His Washington, D.C., assignments included tours as director of USIA’s Office of Re- search and Intelligence and deputy assistant director for public informa- tion. He also served on the faculty of the National War College. He retired from the Foreign Service in 1975. Throughout his career, Mr. Nadler was a frequent contributor to the Foreign Service Journal and, during one Washington tour, served as a member of the FSJ Editorial Board. His contributions ranged from serious to satirical. Contemporaries particu- larly recall his “Life and Love in the Foreign Service” monthly feature. He was a member of DACOR and the National Society of Arts and Letters. His wife of 41 years, Ruthanne Hunter Nadler, who accompanied him on all his foreign assignments, died in 1985. Survivors include three daughters and two sons: Elizabeth McGranahan and Mary Macdonald of Maryland; Hunter Nadler of Califor- nia; Christopher Nadler of New Jersey; and Marci Nadler Waugh, of Washington, D.C.; nine grandchil- dren; and two great-grandchildren. Midori (Mimi) Kaneko O’Brien , 80, the widow of State Depart-ment communicator William Warren O’Brien, died of cancer in a nursing home in Prospect Park, Pa., on June 4. Born in Nangano Ken in 1927, Mrs. O’Brien married her husband in 1951, when he was working as a civilian for the U.S. military in Japan. Mrs. O’Brien accompanied her hus- band during his career in the For- eign Service to Naimey, Bangkok, Seoul, Ouagadougou, Abidjan and Antananarivo. She was known at all their posts for her warm hospitality. After her husband’s retirement, Mrs. O’Brien nursed him devotedly I N M E M O R Y