The Foreign Service Journal, October 2010

64 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 1 0 English teacher, journalist, cross-cul- tural trainer and women’s club officer, in addition to her informal roles as spouse of the ambassador or DCM. She was active in drama and music groups throughout her career. In Colombo, Mrs. Donnelly enter- tained widely at educational and char- itable events as “Coco the Clown,” the only professional clown in Sri Lanka. Mr. Donnelly often noted that while being U.S. ambassador was rather prestigious, he was much better known as the husband of the ubiquitous Coco. Friends and family members recall Mrs. Donnelly as “a force of nature” who contributed vitally to community activities at her overseas posts. As a first-tour officer’s wife in Dakar, she was quickly elected vice president of the large, French-dominated Interna- tional Women’s Club. A few years later, when her husband was a mid- level economic officer on his first Washington tour, Mrs. Donnelly was elected president of AAFSW, hobnob- bing with the spouses of ambassadors and under secretaries and testifying before Congress on behalf of Foreign Service families at hearings on the Foreign Service Act of 1980. Mrs. Donnelly became a member of AAFSW in 1972, serving at various times as president, membership chair- person and BookFair chairperson. During Washington assignments, she was also a regular reader in her church, a devoted room mother and soccer mom, and an activist in her neighbor- hood association. She performed with the New Di- mension Singers for 30 years and also acted in local theater groups, including the Potomac Theatre Company and Silver Spring Stage. Over the last 15 years, she appeared regularly around the region as Coco the Clown. Mrs. Donnelly is survived by her husband of 40 years, Shaun; her two sons, Alex and Eric, both of Silver Spring, Md.; and a brother and sister. Memorial gifts in her memory may be directed to the First Church of Christ Scientist of Silver Spring, 9100 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring MD 20910; Lawrence University, Appleton WI 54911; The Barker Foundation, 7979 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda MD 20814; Sarvodaya USA, 122 State Street, Suite 510, Madison WI 53703; CARE USA, 151 Ellis Street NE, At- lanta, GA 30303; or to a charity of your own choosing. Thomas J. Dunnigan , 89, a re- tired FSO, died on June 7 of natural causes at Mount Vernon Hospital in Alexandria, Va. A native Ohioan and a graduate of John Carroll University, Mr. Dunnigan received a master’s degree in interna- tional relations fromGeorge Washing- ton University. He was also a graduate of the National War College. After serving in the Army in Europe during World War II, Mr. Dunnigan joined the Foreign Service in 1946, serving first in Berlin on the staff of Robert Murphy, political adviser to the U.S. Military Governor for Germany. He remained there during the Soviet blockade of the city and the Allied air- lift of 1948-1949. Subsequent assignments took him to London (where he was present for King George VI’s death and Queen Elizabeth’s coronation), Manila, Hong Kong and Bonn. He served in The Hague twice, once as deputy chief of mission. He was also DCM and spent many months as chargé d’affaires in Copenhagen and Tel Aviv. He served for nine years in Washington, D.C., and accompanied Secretaries John Foster Dulles, Christian Herter and Dean Rusk on overseas trips. His last assignment was as deputy U.S. perma- nent representative to the Organiza- tion of American States. After retiring from the Foreign Service in 1984, Mr. Dunnigan served for eight years with the Defense Man- agement Systems Planning Agency, traveling to Europe, Asia, Africa and South America during that period. He was a member of the American Foreign Service Association, DACOR, the Mount Vernon Country Club, and Good Shepherd Catholic Church. Mr. Dunnigan married his first wife, Rae Marie Fox of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, in 1949. She died in 1990. In 1992, he married Margaret (Peg) D’Agostino of Alexandria, Va. She died in 2006. Survivors include four children from his first marriage: John R. Dun- nigan of Dallas; Ralph and Leo Dun- nigan of Mason, Ohio; and Claudia A. Conway of Woodbridge, Va. Another son, Michael, died in 1997. He is also survived by three stepchildren: L. James D’Agostino of McLean, Va.; David D’Agostino of Falls Church, Va.; and Anne Shingler of Alexandria, Va.; four grandchildren, seven step grand- children, one great-granddaughter and one step great-grandson. Memorial donations can be made to the American Heart Association. Melissa “Lisa” Frandsen-Con- lon , 49, wife of FAS Foreign Service officer Michael Conlon, died on June 4 in Washington, D.C., after a two-year fight against breast cancer. Ms. Frandsen-Conlon was born in I N M E M O R Y