The Foreign Service Journal, September 2009

74 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 9 Upon retiring from the Foreign Service in 1978, Mr. Lubensky settled in Columbia, Mo. A charter member of the Missouri Archeological Society, he had an abiding interest in archeol- ogy, running amateur digs in Ecuador and El Salvador. In retirement, he en- rolled in the graduate program in the anthropology department at the Uni- versity of Missouri, receiving a doctor- ate degree in 1991. He was an active member of the Columbia community, serving as treasurer of the Missouri Archeology Society (1983-1991), as a member (1980-2009) and president (1995) of the Muleskinners (Columbia booster club for the Democratic Party), and as treasurer (1983-1999) of The Theatre Society of Columbia Entertainment Company. Mr. Lubensky’s wife of 50 years, Anita, died in 1992. In 1994, he mar- ried Margot Truman Patterson, who died in 2008. He then married Mar- ian Reed, of Columbia, Mo., who sur- vives him. He is also survived by his three sons: Tom of Philadelphia, Pa., Jerry of Lawrence, Kan., and Chris of Quito, Ecuador; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Terence James Spencer , 79, a playwright, professor and former FSO with USIA, died on April 1, 2008, in Pultneyville, N.Y., after a long illness. Mr. Spencer was born on Oct. 10, 1928, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the only child of James Allen Spencer and Kathryn (Duffey) Spencer. He received his B.A. in English from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1950, a master’s degree in speech and drama from Catholic Uni- versity in 1954, and a doctorate in English from Stanford University in 1957. Mr. Spencer then taught at the University of Wisconsin (Madison), University of Notre Dame, The Catholic University of America, Roch- ester Institute of Technology, The Na- tional University of Zaire and King Saud University. A World War II and Korean War Army veteran, he also served the gov- ernment as an independent consultant for Project Upward Bound, as a Peace Corps Volunteer and as a Foreign Service officer, living and working around the world. From 1979 through 1981, Mr. Spencer was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire. As a Foreign Service officer with USIA from 1986 to 1992, he was posted to Canberra, Port Moresby and Seoul. He also visited China, Antarc- tica and the Galapagos Islands and traveled extensively in Europe, Cana- da and the United States. As part of a lifelong interest in the- ater and the arts, Mr. Spencer served in 1970 as the executive producer of Saint Albans Repertory Theatre in Washing- ton, D.C. His own play, “Jonah,” was produced off-Broadway in 1967. After retirement, he served as trustee/executive director of the Wayne County Historical Society and trustee/president of the Pultneyville Historical Society. He contributed so- cial-political, drama and travel col- umns to the Wayne Weekly , the New- ark Courier-Gazette and the William- son Sun and Record . Most recently, he served as a trustee for the Williamson Public Li- brary. He was also active in local pol- itics and a member of the Williamson American Legion Post 394 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6778 in Palmyra, N.Y. Mr. Spencer’s wife, Elois (Wiren) Spencer, died in 1971. He is survived by his son Geoffrey of Ironwood, Mich., daughter Katherine (Dell) Hodges of Webster, N.Y., and grand- daughter Sarah Hodges of Delmar, N.Y. David Leander Stratmon Sr. , 84, a retired FSO, died on May 1 in Holly Springs, Miss. Mr. Stratmon was educated in the public schools of North Carolina and at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. He re- ceived a bachelor’s degree from Ho- ward University, a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, and an LLD from Georgetown Uni- versity LawCenter. DuringWorldWar II, Mr. Stratmon served in Europe with the 3128th Quartermaster Service Company. After a two-year assignment with the U.S. Public Health Service in Liberia, Mr. Stratmon joined the For- eign Service in 1956, accepting an offer from the U.S. Information Agency that allowed him to serve in the Gold Coast, as Ghana was then known, when independence from Great Bri- tain was celebrated in 1957. Other postings included Morocco, Chad, Congo, Jordan, France, Tunisia and Washington, D.C. Following retirement from the For- eign Service, Mr. Stratmon became chair of the department of political sci- ence at Rust College in Holly Springs. Besides working with charitable groups and writing his memoirs ( From a Small Town to the World , Xlibris, 2008), he served as a lector, Eucharistic minister and choir member at St. Joseph Catholic Church for 23 years. I N M E M O R Y