The Foreign Service Journal, September 2007

shipments. After five years of legal bat- tles, the Supreme Court ruled on May 16, 2005, that states permitting in-state wineries to sell directly to consumers may not deny that right to out-of-state producers. Mr. Swedenburg died in 2004, a year before their Supreme Court victory. Mrs. Swedenburg was described in her Washington Post obituary as “a hard-charging woman whose personal- ity was a mix of diplomacy, gruff charm and bullheadedness.” A member of the Daughters of the American Revo- lution, she was the Virginia Wineries Association person of the year in 2006 and received its lifetime achievement award. She is survived by her son Marc Swedenburg of Middleburg, Va.; a brother; and a granddaughter. Etta Holitik Thurmond , 79, a retired Foreign Service nurse practi- tioner, died on May 4 at her residence in Kerrville, Texas. Prior to joining the Foreign Service in 1977, Mrs. Thurmond worked as a nurse in Saudi Arabia with a private company. During a 16-year Foreign Service career, she served in Bucha- rest, Quito, Mogadishu and Karachi. In 1993, she retired to Kerrville, Texas. She worked as a nurse at Camp Waldemar, a girls’ summer camp in the nearby hills. Mrs. Thurmond is survived by a daughter, Kathy Thurmond of Bel- chertown, Mass.; two sons, Perry Thurmond and Michael Thurmond; and a brother, Dr. George Holitik. Josephine Douglas Wharton , 98, a retired FSO, died at her home in Naples, Fla., on May 20. Ms. Wharton was the last surviving child of Anne Ramsey Wharton and Dr. Robert Leslie Wharton. She grew up in Cardenas, Cuba, where her father, a Presbyterian minister, found- ed and supervised La Progressiva Presbyterian School. Following her 1929 graduation from Queens College in Charlotte, N.C., Ms. Wharton taught fourth grade for one year in Charlotte and math for three years at La Progressiva. She then moved to Miami, where she worked for George Merrick, develop- er of Coral Gables, Fla. In 1939, Ms. Wharton began a 23- year career with the Foreign Service, serving in Havana, Athens, Singapore, Mexico City and Jakarta, as well as Washington, D.C. In 1959, she was presented the Meritorious Service Award by Under Secretary Douglas Dillon for her outstanding work devel- oping a course on disbursing, budget and fiscal operations for the Foreign Service Institute. Following her retirement at the end of 1962, Ms. Wharton and her sis- ter, Mrs. Anita Wharton Guthery, made their home in Naples. There she enjoyed volunteering at the Naples Hospital and at a local animal shelter. Ms. Wharton was preceded in death by her parents, two sisters, Elizabeth Wharton McKnight and Anita Wharton Guthery, and a broth- er, Robert L. Wharton Jr. Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice, 1095 Whippoorwill Lane, Naples FL 34105. S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 87 I N M E M O R Y Send your “In Memory” submission to: Foreign Service Journal Attn: Susan Maitra, 2101 E Street NW, Washington DC 20037, or e-mail it to FSJedit@afsa.org , or fax it to (202) 338-8244. No photos, please.