The Foreign Service Journal, September 2022

82 SEPTEMBER 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL she lived, she always had one or two dogs in her loving care. In the second half of her life, Ms. Har- rop handled a particularly insidious form of hereditary glaucoma with remark- able grace. She became unable to drive in the early 1990s, and though almost completely blind by the end of her life, she continued to enjoy poetry, word play, music and games. She never complained about her blindness, and hid it so artfully that most people were unaware that she could not see. She used an oversize monitor for the blind to do crossword puzzles in ink, to read her beloved Emily Dickinson and, in her last six years, to write many poems of her own, some of which she published. She also took piano lessons for years, but blindness made learning new pieces a challenge. She memorized a considerable repertoire from Bach and Beethoven to Satie, Mozart and Schumann, and would rehearse the whole list from time to time to keep the music in her head. She was an inspira- tion to all who knew her. Ann and Bill Harrop moved to the Fox Hill retirement community in early 2009, where they lived at the time of her death. She faced her disease with her charac- teristic acceptance, never complaining, although distressed by the indignities of her deterioration. To the end, she was angry that the law prevented her from being granted the same peaceful death that veterinarians had given many of her dogs. Ann Harrop will be greatly missed. She is survived by her husband, Bill, and her sons and their wives: Mark Dela- van Harrop and Lucy Mayer Harrop, Caldwell Harrop and Susan Elizabeth Spock, Scott Nelson Harrop, and George Hamilton Harrop and Lori Pope Har- rop; and six grandchildren, Jessica, Emily (and her husband, Jack Moxon), Will, Meg, and Max and Dan (and their mother, Erica Hiller Harrop). Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to the Humane Rescue Alliance (www.humanerescuealliance.org) , the successor organization to the Washing- ton Humane Society, where Ann Harrop served on the board. n Dwight Holmes , 60, a former Foreign Service specialist, died peacefully onMay 3, 2022, at his home on Nantucket Island, Mass., after a long battle with cancer. His wife and children were by his side. Mr. Holmes graduated fromNantucket High School in 1980 and joined the Marine Corps that fall. After serving as an aviation clerk at several air bases in the South, he was nominated to attendMarine Security Guard School in Quantico, Va. His first assignment was in Geneva, where he and his fellowMarines were blessed with the care, friendship and fine cooking of longtime Marine House chef Carlos Cascallar, who remained a close friend throughout Mr. Holmes’ life. He was next assigned to Abidjan. His final MSG assignment was to N’Djamena. After six years with the Marine Corps, he returned to Geneva as a private bodyguard to a foreign diplomat. The following year Mr. Holmes returned to the United States and attended college while working full-time and with aid from the GI Bill. His goal was to be hired by the State Department and continue serving at U.S. missions abroad. In 1989 he was accepted into the Foreign Service as a communications officer. His first assignment was U.S. Embassy Tokyo (1989-1991), where he and his wife, Nancy, moved after get- ting married on Nantucket. The fam- ily, including son Gerard, were then assigned to U.S. Embassy Copenhagen (1991-1992). While in Copenhagen, Mr. Holmes responded to the call for positions to help open new embassies in the former Soviet republics and was assigned to Baku (1992-1993). After that tour, Mr. Holmes was reunited with his family and then assigned to Brussels (1993-1996). There, he was able to finish his bachelor’s degree at night, and he and Nancy also welcomed daughter Erin-Marie. After Brussels, the family returned to Nantucket. There, Mr. Holmes opened a popular takeout restaurant called Cook’s Café, which is still open today under new owners. He simultaneously opened and operated a successful pool maintenance business. He and Nancy also welcomed their third child, daughter Jade. Mr. Holmes maintained and valued friendships with his customers and employees alike, staffing the restau- rant with workers from the Dominican Republic, Lithuania, Russia, the United Kingdom and other countries. He particularly enjoyed visiting his many employees from the Dominican Republic and seeing the homes they built with their earnings. After more than 20 years of running both businesses, Mr. Holmes reluctantly retired as his illness progressed. Never- theless, for several years he still man- aged to keep busy with landscaping and carpentry projects, pursuing his love of world travel and ethnic cuisine, and spending time with friends, family and his beloved dogs. He also enjoyed spending time at his cabin in the mountains of Maine, determined to teach all his children to ski and to enjoy the great outdoors. He kept in touch and enjoyed visits with many friends from his time serving abroad in the Marines and the Foreign Service.