The Foreign Service Journal, September 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2020 81 n Jane Ellen Becker , 69, a retired Foreign Service officer, died on April 6 of cardiac failure inWashington, D.C. Ms. Becker was born inMilwaukee, Wis., and spent her childhood inWau- watosa, a Milwaukee suburb. She was valedictorian of her high school class and went on to graduate with highest honors fromMichigan State University with a dual major in biology and Latin American stud- ies. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1972 Ms. Becker joined the Foreign Service. Her 29-year career included over- seas postings in Lisbon, Moscow, Geneva and Vienna, as well as assignments in Washington, D.C. Her first overseas post was Lisbon; dur- ing her tour, the 1974 Carnation Revolution occurred. Later, in the early 1980s during the height of the ColdWar, she served in Moscow as a general services officer. Her final overseas post was as ambas- sador to the international organizations in Vienna in the early 1990s. Ambassador Becker’s domestic assignments included the State Depart- ment Operations Center as senior watch officer, the Bureau of International Nar- cotics and Law Enforcement as principal deputy assistant secretary, and both the Foreign Service Institute and the National War College where she taught relevant topics based on career experiences. In 2001 Amb. Becker retired from the Foreign Service. In retirement, she worked with the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement. Ms. Becker loved to travel but was also the ultimate travel guide. People who vis- ited her inWashington or overseas would always be in for an incredible tour, friends and relatives recall. She would show them not only the typical sites but also places virtually no one knew about. Ms. Becker is survived by her brother, Robert, and extended family. n Pierce Kendall Bullen , 85, a retired Foreign Service officer, died peacefully, surrounded by his family, onMay 4 in the Springmoor Life Care Retirement Commu- nity in Raleigh, N.C. Mr. Bullen was born in 1935 to Ripley and Adelaide Bullen. After attending Phil- lips Academy (Andover), he earned his bachelor’s, with high honors, andmaster’s in political science at the University of Florida. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He later studied in Switzerland and took the advanced economic course in the State Department. After joining the Foreign Service in 1958, Mr. Bullen served in Beirut at the Foreign Service Institute; Dhahran; Cairo; Rabat; Ouagadougou, where he was deputy chief of mission; Caracas, where he was also the school board president of an American school; andMadrid. In Cara- cas andMadrid, he served as economic counselor. InWashington, D.C., Mr. Bullen served as director of Arab-language broadcasts at the Voice of America; a member of two bilateral negotiations on natural gas imports (Mexico and France); U.S. repre- sentative to the international meetings on issues of energy-consuming countries; and lead economics professor at the National War College (Fort McNair), where he also taught international relations and U.S. political and governmental systems. Through the NWC, he especially enjoyed accompanying a group of students to East- ern Europe each year. After a 37-year diplomatic career, Mr. Bullen retired in 1995. He went on to teach economics at Georgetown Uni- versity’s Continuing Education Depart- ment, run his real estate business and travel. Other interests included current events, music, bridge and reading about all aspects of the world. He was known for his calm, reasoned approach to his work, his extensive knowledge, his ability to explain complex economic concepts, and his dry wit. Mr. Bullen is survived by his wife of 65 years, Helene; children Grace, Peter, Philip and Kendall, and their spouses; and grandchildren Sara, Eliana, Zachary, Fionnuala and Elyse. He was predeceased by his brother and sister-in-law, Dana and Joyce Bullen. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Senior Living Foundation, or to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. n Tamar Alicia Donovan , 54, wife of Diplomatic Security Special Agent Andriy Koropeckyj, died onMarch 1 from injuries sustained in a vehicle accident in eastern France. Ms. Donovan was born in Baltimore, Md., on July 26, 1965, the youngest daugh- ter of Murtha V. Donovan Jr. and Olga V. Donovan. She was the youngest sister of Leah Rose Donovan andMurtha “Trip” V. Donovan III. In her childhood, she moved with her family to the Heidelberg/Waldorf area of Germany, where her father was an engineer for IBM. From this experience, Ms. Donovan developed a lifelong pas- sion for international travel and cultural exploration. On returning to the United States, Ms. Donovan spent her youth inMaryland, and was selected for the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth Pro- gram. In 1982 she graduated one year early fromArchbishop Keough High School. She began her undergraduate studies at the University of Dallas and, in 1986, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the Johns Hopkins University with a bachelor’s degree in classics. Ms. Donovan then attended Indiana University where she focused on Hungar-