The Foreign Service Journal, September 2015

88 SEPTEMBER 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL USAID office in Washington for missions in Africa and a logistics and procurement officer for Experience, Inc. His first wife died in 1974, and he married Lois (Dody) Gambino in 1976. Mr. Locke was an avid gardener and landscaper at the home he and Dody had in Lancaster, Pa. He spoke four languages and loved classical music. Despite the devastation of the wars he observed as a child, a soldier and an FSO, he remained an optimist throughout his life with a deep interest in world events and concern for the people of the world. Family and friends remember him as friendly, talkative and dignified in manner. In his later years, he overcame many illnesses with fortitude and deter- mination, never complaining about his problems. Mr. Locke is survived by three children from his first marriage: Shereen Shantz of Albuquerque, N.M., Bruce Locke of Tal- lahassee, Fla., and Kathryn Babendreier of Albany, N.Y.; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. n Margaret K. Meehan , 92, wife of retired Ambassador Francis J. Meehan, died on March 15 at her home in Helens- burgh, Scotland. Mrs. Meehan was born on March 4, 1923, in Yoker, Scotland, the third of eight children to Patrick and Annie Kearns. She attended Our Holy Redeemer primary and secondary school in Clydebank, but her education was interrupted by the Clydebank Blitz in March 1941, and the Kearns family was evacuated to Helens- burgh. The family spent most of the rest of the World War II in Glasgow, billeted under the roof of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed Hill House, home of Blackie Book Publishing, before mov- ing back to Clydebank. Her soon-to-be husband, Frank, had also been evacuated after the Blitz and was a regular visitor to the Kearns family home in Helensburgh and Clydebank. Mrs. Meehan went on to join the army and worked in communications. She and Mr. Meehan were courting when he received his call-up papers for the U.S. Army and was sent to Fontainebleau to complete his infantry training. The pair married in 1949 in Manhattan, where Mrs. Meehan had emigrated to work as a nanny and reunite with Mr. Meehan. Mr. Meehan joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1951 and rose through the ranks, specializing in Eastern European and communist affairs. The family’s postings included Frankfurt (1951-1952), Hamburg (1952-1953), Paris (1953-1956), Moscow (1959-1961), Berlin (1961-1966), Budapest (1968-1972), Bonn (1972-1975) and Vienna (1975-1977). Mrs. Meehan supported her husband throughout his career; brought up and arranged the education of their four children; and entertained and cooked for diplomats and other important guests during the 66 years of their long and happy marriage. In 1979, when he was appointed ambassador to Czechoslovakia, Mrs. Mee- han assumed the social and diplomatic responsibilities of the spouse of a chief of mission. WhenMr. Meehan was appointed U.S. ambassador to Poland in 1980 and to the German Democratic Republic in 1985, she continued these duties. Some of the family’s postings were also historic: Moscow in the aftermath of the U2 spy plane incident in 1960; East Germany when spies were being swapped prior to the collapse of the Berlin Wall; and Warsaw when the Solidarity trade union emerged under Lech Walesa and General Jaruzelski declared martial law. Mrs. Meehan accompanied her hus- band to a meeting with Pope John Paul II in Vatican City. She was a delightful conversationalist and excellent cook and organizer. “They say that moving house is one of the most stressful things a person can do in their lifetime, but Margaret took it all in stride as we moved from house to house a remarkable 23 times,” said Mr. Meehan of his wife. Friends and family recall Mrs. Mee- han’s sense of humor. She loved ballet, music, reading, flowers and sewing and became actively engaged with the inte- rior design of some of the embassies in which her family lived. She never forgot her roots in Clydebank, which she visited often to be with family and friends. Mr. and Mrs. Meehan settled in their home in Helensburgh, overlooking the Firth of Clyde, following Mr. Meehan’s retirement in 1989. In her later years, Mrs. Meehan suffered a stroke followed by a long period of illness and incapacity with Alzheimer’s disease. She was cared for by her devoted husband and children. Mrs. Meehan is survived by her hus- band, Frank; their four children: Anne, Catherine, Frances and Jim; seven grand- children and three great-grandchildren. n Eleanor N. Peters , 87, wife of the late commercial attaché T. Howard Peters, died on April 20. Mrs. Peters was born on Feb. 13, 1928, an only child to Elmer and Opal Rollin. She married T. Howard Peters, a com- mercial attaché and executive director of the Far East division of the Atlantic Richfield Company. The couple, along with their five sons, had postings abroad in Egypt, Iraq, Japan and China, and stateside in Washington, D.C., California, Washington State, Mary- land and Virginia. In her later years, Mrs. Peters relo-