THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2024 87 Mr. Smith went on to graduate from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and then received his master’s degree from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He joined the Marine Corps and transitioned to reserve status when he passed the State Department’s Foreign Service exam and joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1963. Specializing in South Asia, Mr. Smith served in Pakistan and Nepal and served three tours in India, the last as deputy chief of mission. He also served in the Central African Republic, Belize, and New York, where he spent a year at the Council on Foreign Relations. His final overseas assignment was as ambassador to Tajikistan, which had recently become independent from the Soviet Union and was consumed by civil war. He ended his career as a fellow at the Peacekeeping Institute at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa. For many years, he was a senior fellow at The Johns Hopkins Central Asia- Caucasus Institute in Washington, D.C. After retiring from the State Department, Ambassador Smith moved to Jefferson County, W.Va., where he continued his commitment to public service. In 2001 Amb. Smith joined the board of the Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle, later becoming its president, and worked to secure conservation easements on properties all over West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle. He was instrumental in saving many acres of land, including sites associated with Civil War battlefields and other historic properties. For many years, he taught a Foreign Policy Association Great Decisions course with Shepherd University’s Lifelong Learning Program. Amb. Smith is survived by his wife, Renny Travers Smith; his children, R. Justin Smith and C. Adair Smith; their spouses, Pamela Phan and John Bender; and two grandchildren. Donations in his name to the Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle can be made at https://landtrustepwv.org/ join-us/. n Elizabeth “B.J.” Wesoloski, 87, a Foreign Service nurse practitioner, passed away on Jan. 12, 2024, at the Rose Arbor Hospice Home in Kalamazoo, Mich. Ms. Wesoloski was born on May 28, 1936, in Vicksburg, Mich. A 1954 graduate of Vicksburg High School and then Borgess School of Nursing in Kalamazoo, she worked as a nurse at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Vicksburg and at Borgess Hospital, where she became an assistant to the director of nursing. Ms. Wesoloski then left for two years to attend the University of Colorado in Boulder, where she earned a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN). She later returned to Michigan and joined the faculty of Borgess School of Nursing. In 1963 Ms. Wesoloski set off on a new adventure, accepting a position at St. Luke’s Hospital of Nursing in San Francisco, Calif., before joining the Department of State as a Foreign Service health practitioner, providing essential health care services to American personnel and their families stationed at various U.S. embassies. Ms. Wesoloski was assigned to Afghanistan, Nigeria, Ecuador, Nepal, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Pakistan, Poland, Sri Lanka, and Georgia. She received several professional accolades, including a letter of commendation from then– First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton. Her friends and family remember her generous spirit, unwavering determination, and independent nature. Ms. Wesoloski retired in 1996. In retirement, she took pleasure in creating culinary delights inspired by her travels, often treating her family and friends to meals infused with flavors from the countries she once called home. Her scrapbooking skills brought cherished memories to life and will be appreciated by generations to come. She was also an avid reader and accomplished seamstress who made many of her own clothes. Ms. Wesoloski was predeceased by her parents: Ignace “James” and Eva Mary (Rapacz) Wesoloski; brother Jim Wesoloski; sister-in-law Jo Wesoloski; and brother-in-law Michael J. Ambro Jr. She is survived by siblings Walter (and spouse Jane) Wesoloski, Edward “Butch” (and spouse Karen) Wesoloski, and Lou Ann Ambro, and numerous nieces and nephews. Those who wish to may make contributions to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) of Southwest Michigan. n 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.
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