The Foreign Service Journal, October 2008

Iowa. He joined the State Depart- ment in 1966 after retiring from the Marine Corps. He served in Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Sierra Leone and Pakistan. In 1981, he retired and returned to Glenwood, Iowa, where he was an active member of the Kiwanis and participated in many local volunteer projects. Mr. Case and his wife Betty lived in Iowa until 1999, when they moved to Morro Bay, Calif., to be near their daughter. Mr. Case is survived by his wife and his daughter, Sharon White, and her husband. Martha Benitez Cash , 79, widow of the late retired FSOHarvey J. Cash, died on Jan. 8 in Falls Church, Va. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Mrs. Cash was raised on a sugar cane plan- tation in Jalisco until age 11, and then in Mazatlan. She studied banking in Mexico City. After a year as the reign- ing beauty queen of Sinaloa and sec- retary to the president of the Banco del Pacifico, she met vice consul Harvey J. Cash on board a U.S. Navy ship that docked in Mazatlan Harbor. They married in 1954. Mrs. Cash accompanied her hus- band to Mexico City, where their daughter Alice was born; Montreal, where their daughter Helen and son Harvey were born; Washington, D.C., where their son Robert was born; and then on to Nuevo Laredo, Paris and, finally, Madrid. They returned to their home in Falls Church, Va., in 1974. While overseas, Mrs. Cash served on the boards of many charitable organizations and took great pride in representing the United States along- side her husband. She often recalled helping Americans in need at various posts and the countless refugees seek- ing asylum. She shared her husband’s profound love for art and music. She studied oils, and became particularly accomplished in floral motifs. Her devout Catholic faith carried her through her entire life. Remembered not simply for her striking beauty, but also for her grace and thoughtfulness, Mrs. Cash was a beloved and devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend to many. Martha Cash is survived by her four children: M. Alice Foley, of Spot- sylvania, Va.; C. Helen Cash of Kenai, Ark.; J. Harvey Cash of Arlington, Va.; and G. Robert Cash of Los Angeles, Calif.; her sister Celia B. Camarero and family, of Chihuahua, Mexico; her sister-in-law Mary Mac Cash of Waskom, Texas; and her grandchil- dren, Celina Cash of Leesburg, Va.; Ehren K. Foley of Columbia, S.C.; and Robert B. Manley of Kenai, Ark. She was preceded in death by her husband, who died in 1986, and by her grandson James K. Foley, who died in 2003. Donations in her memory can be made to a mental health organization of your choosing. To contact the fam- ily, write c/o G. Robert Cash, P.O. Box 743139, Los Angeles CA 90004. Halbert T. Cupps , 92, a retired FSO with USIA and a former director of the Voice of America, died on Feb. 14 at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz. Mr. Cupps was born in Butler, Pa., in 1916. Prior to joining the State De- partment in 1945, he worked in com- munications in the private sector. In 1954, he met and married Helen Cheever Cook, who was working as a Foreign Service secretary in Ger- many. Mr. Cupps’ career with the Voice of America took him to Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, South- east Asia and many locations within the United States. While with the VOA, he appeared before Senator Joseph McCarthy’s House Un-Ameri- can Activities Committee hearings as a rebuttal witness for the State De- partment. In 1973, he retired from the Voice of America in West Chester, Ohio, and shortly thereafter moved his family to Arizona. An avid ham radio operator, Mr. Cupps continued to enjoy his radio friends even as, in his 80s, his interests turned to computers. In a very special moment shortly before his death, he received a telephone call from former Secretary of State George Shultz, who thanked him for his service to the United States. Mr. Cupps is survived by his wife, Helen; daughters Cindy Weissblatt of Boca Raton, Fla., Lisa Cupps of Chandler, Ariz.; his son, Eugene N. Cupps of Chandler, Ariz.; and four grandchildren. Peter Jon de Vos , 69, a retired FSO and former ambassador, died on June 9 in Grant-Valkaria, Fla. Born in San Diego, Calif., Mr. de Vos attended the St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., on a musical schol- arship. He went on to Princeton University, where he received a B.A. in 1960, and the Johns Hopkins School of International Relations, where he received an M.A. in 1962. In that year, he joined the Foreign Service, serving first in Recife, where he met Nancy Wesney. The couple married in St. Albans’ sanctuary at the Washington Cathedral in 1965. Mr. de Vos’s diplomatic career took him to Naples, Luanda, Brasilia and Athens before he was appointed amb- assador to Guinea-Bissau, Mozam- bique, Liberia, Tanzania and Costa Rica. He retired in 1977. Ambass- 74 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 8 I N M E M O R Y u u u u