The Foreign Service Journal, October 2018

60 OCTOBER 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Pree kept trying to break 100 in golf, but without success. Amb. De Pree was predeceased by Elisabeth Pierrou, his wife of 61 years, and two children, Carin and Peter. He leaves behind four children: Thomas, Bir- gitta, Susie and Anita; three sons-in-law; and six grandchildren. n James Bruce Engle, 98, a retired Foreign Service officer and former ambas- sador, died at home in Peachan, Vt., on Nov. 7, 2017. Born in a sod hut in Custer, Mont., to homesteaders Bruce and Verbeaudah Engle, James spent his childhood living in a boxcar in a West Burlington, Iowa, railroad siding. After completing high school, he graduated first in his class fromBurlington Junior College before going on to complete his bachelor’s degree with Phi Beta Kappa honors at the University of Chicago. As a Rhodes Scholar, Engle studied phi- losophy, politics and economics at Exeter College, Oxford University, in 1947. He was the first recipient of the Rhodes Scholar- ship to receive a Fulbright Scholarship, which took him to Naples, Italy, in 1950. A career diplomat, Mr. Engle’s first overseas assignment was as vice consul in Quito, Ecuador, from 1942 to 1944. An avid mountain climber, he led 11 expeditions to the highest peaks in the Andes, including Mount Chimborazo, without use of oxygen or modern safety equipment. He then volunteered for Navy service during WorldWar II and served in the Pacific. He was assigned to the U.S. mili- tary government during the occupation of Japan before completing his service with the rank of lieutenant junior grade. Mr. Engle rejoined the Foreign Service after the war, serving in Rio de Janeiro, Naples, Rome, Washington, D.C., Frank- furt, Düsseldorf, Bonn and Accra. He received the Rockefeller Public Service Award for distinguished govern- ment service in 1958, which he applied to postgraduate study at King’s College, Cambridge University from 1958 to 1959. He was the deputy chief of mission inManagua from 1964 to 1967. He then served as province adviser in Phu Yen and consul general in Nha Trang before becoming deputy chief of mission in PhnomPenh in 1973. President Gerald Ford appointed him U.S. ambassador to Benin in 1974. He went on to serve as ambassador to NATO and as political adviser to the Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (with the equivalent rank of a three-star general). Ambassador Engle subsequently headed up embassy inspection teams for the State Department’s Office of Inspector General. He concluded his career at the U.S. Department of Treasury, serving as direc- tor general of the United States-Saudi Arabian Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation in Riyadh from 1984 to 1987. After retiring from government service, Amb. Engle moved to Vermont, where he applied himself to the environment, sustainable forestry and the promotion of animal habitat, particularly for ruffed grouse and wetland birds. He was a founding member of Vermont Coverts: Woodlands for Wildlife in 1991. He was named Caledonia County’s Tree Farmer of the Year in 1997 and Tree Farmer of the Year for the state of Vermont in 2004. In 2010 the Coverts established the “Furthering the Coverts Mission in Vermont James Engle Award,” which is bestowed annually for outstanding achievement. Amb. Engle was also recognized by the U.S. Association of Community Colleges as its 2013 “Outstanding Alumnus of the Year” for exceptional lifetime achievement. He is survived by his wife, Priscilla Joyce Engle (nee Wright) of London, England; children Stephen, Judith, Philip, Susan, John and Peter; daughters-in-law fromRussia, Taiwan and Colombia; 12 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a sister, Dorothy Erickson. Donations may be made inMr. Engle’s name to Vermont Coverts: Woodlands for Wildlife, Inc., PO Box 328, Vergennes VT 05491. n TomGallagher, 77, the first openly gay Foreign Service officer, died on July 8 of cardiac arrest inWall, N.J. Mr. Gallagher was born in New York City toThomas andMary Josephine Mur- phy Gallagher, who were personal servants to the family that foundedMGM and RandomHouse. At age 11 he began working as a caddy at the Hollywood Golf Club in New Jersey. He later earned a bachelor’s degree from Monmouth University and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California. After graduation, Mr. Gallagher entered the first Peace Corps group to Ethiopia. Seen off by President andMrs. John F. Ken- nedy, the group was welcomed in Addis Ababa by His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie. He was assigned to the small town of Agordot in the province of Eritrea. On returning to the United States, Mr. Gallagher worked at the White House before entering the Foreign Service in 1965. His first assignment was to Jeddah, where he planned the evacuation of the American community fromwestern Saudi Arabia during the 1967 June War. He was then posted to a small U.S. con- sulate in northern Nigeria, where he spent two years while the BiafranWar raged in southern Nigeria. He was the first U.S. gov-