THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2023 79 This lifted her spirits and harnessed her affection for her family. Ms. Ward was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, John Mulrenin. She is survived by her husband of 56 years, Larry; sister Francine Gruette of Cushing, Okla.; her two sons, John Ward of Front Royal, Va., and Michael Ward, daughter-in law-Michelle Ward, grandson Evan Ward, all of Clifton, Va.; and a granddaughter, Macy Ward of Washington, D.C. n Brooks Wrampelmeier, 87, a retired Senior Foreign Service officer, died after a brief illness on Feb. 9, 2022, at his home in Washington, D.C. Mr. Wrampelmeier was born on Sept. 27, 1934, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Fred and Shirley (Brooks) Wrampelmeier, and grew up in the nearby town of Wyoming. After graduating from Wyoming High School, he attended Princeton University, earning his degree with high honors in 1956 in the Department of Oriental Languages and Literature. He spent his junior year at the American University of Beirut, where he further developed his Arabic language skills and studied Arabic and Middle Eastern history. He later obtained a master of international public policy degree in Middle Eastern studies from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in 1977. Mr. Wrampelmeier began his 33-year career with the Foreign Service in 1956, assigned to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) School of Languages and then to the executive secretariat of the International Cooperation Administration. He met his future wife, Ann Dartsch, who was also a Foreign Service officer, on a blind date in 1957. He and Ann married in May 1958. In 1959, the couple moved to Lebanon, where Mr. Wrampelmeier attended Arabic language training at FSI’s Arabic Language School in Beirut. In 1960, he was assigned as a political officer to Amman, serving there for four years. After a subsequent two-year tour as a political officer in Jeddah, he returned to Washington, D.C., serving first as an analyst of Egyptian affairs in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and then as the country officer for Saudi Arabia, receiving a Meritorious Honor Award during this time. In late 1974, the State Department sent Mr. Wrampelmeier to Lusaka, somewhere completely different for him. Despite his unfamiliarity with sub- Saharan Africa, he learned quickly, developing contacts within both the Zambian government and major southern African freedom movements. Before his departure in 1976, he served as acting deputy chief of mission (DCM). In 1977, Mr. Wrampelmeier became the DCM in Abu Dhabi, and three years later moved up the Persian Gulf to serve in the same role in Kuwait for two years. During that time, Iraq invaded Iran. An Iranian air attack led to the emergency evacuation of 200 Americans to Kuwait, many without entry visas and some without passports, while Mr. Wrampelmeier was in charge of the mission. The Department of State gave the embassy a Group Superior Honor Award for its work getting Americans into and then out of Kuwait within three days. He returned to Washington in 1982, becoming deputy director, and later director, of the Office of Arabian Peninsula Affairs. In 1984 he became coordinator of mid-level and executive level training at FSI. In 1986, Mr. Wrampelmeier was posted for a year as a senior fellow at the If you would like us to include an obituary in In Memory, please send text to journal@afsa.org. Be sure to include the date, place, and cause of death, as well as details of the individual’s Foreign Service career. Please place the name of the AFSA member to be memorialized in the subject line of your email. Strategic Concepts Development Center of the Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University. From Fort McNair, he went to his final post as principal officer and consul general in Dhahran, serving until his retirement in September 1989. Mr. Wrampelmeier remained in Washington, D.C., after retirement. He was a lifelong student of the Middle East, studying Gulf history at Georgetown University and participating actively in his memberships with the Middle East Institute, the Middle East Studies Association, and the Society for Gulf Arab Studies. He pursued his passion for genealogy, incorporating research into trips with his wife to Germany and Poland. He continued to work part-time for the State Department for many years, assisting with Freedom of Information Act requests. Mr. Wrampelmeier is survived by his wife, Ann; daughter Susan Atkinson (and husband Robert); son Peter; son Chris (and wife Hortencia); and grandchildren: Claire, Cole, Claudia, and Holly. n
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