The Foreign Service Journal - November 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2017 71 A native of Mississippi, Mr. Blake was born on June 29, 1924, and spent his early years at Mileston Plantation, Miss. The Blake family moved to Lexington, Miss., in 1931, where he attended public schools, graduating in 1941. After two years at Mississippi State College, Mr. Blake entered the U.S. Army. He served in the Philippine Islands as an officer in the 12th Infantry Division (Philippine Scouts), which was being reconstituted as part of the U.S. Army. Mr. Blake left the Army in 1947, but remained in the Army Reserve and retired as a full colonel in 1980. Mr. Blake received his bachelor’s degree fromGeorgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 1949, and subsequently obtained a M.A. degree in economics fromThe George Washington University, both inWashington, D.C. He was a research fellow in interna- tional trade and finance at the London School of Economics during the 1962-1963 academic year. His senior officer training was done at the NATODefense College in Rome in 1969. Mr. Blake entered the Foreign Service in January 1951. He first served in Frankfurt (1951-1952), Bremerhaven (1952-1953) and Bonn (1955-1958). He later served as chief of the economic section in San José (1963-1965), counselor and chief of the economic/commercial section in Bern (1969-1973), deputy consul general and acting consul general in Frankfurt (1975-1978), deputy chief of mis- sion and chargé in Panama (1978-1982) and chargé d’affaires in Bermuda (1984). He also served as deputy director of the Office of International Investment at the Department of the Treasury inWashing- ton, D.C. (1973-1975). In 1982, the government of Panama awardedMr. Blake the Order of Vasco Nuñez de Balboa for his contributions to cordial U.S.-Panamanian relations while chargé and DCM. He also received the State Department’s Superior Honor Award for his services in Panama. He retired from the Foreign Service in 1987 and became a business consultant. Mr. Blake met his future wife, Rozanne Marie, at an Army Reserve officers’ meet- ing at Bremerhaven, Germany, in Sep- tember 1952. The couple married three months later, on Dec. 31. Mr. Blake is survived by his five chil- dren: Melville III of Portsmouth, N.H.; Martha Anne of Jamesville, N.Y.; John Waldo of Munich, Germany; Rebecca Eva of New York, N.Y.; Mary Minor of Washing- ton Grove, Md.; and seven grandchildren. He is also survived by a brother, M. Waldo Blake of Silver Spring, Md. Q Carol JoanMcCloskey Chaplin, 77, the spouse of retired FSO Stephen M. Chaplin, died on July 23 following an extended illness. Mrs. Chaplin was born in 1940 in Johnstown, Pa., the daughter of Theodore and Caroline McCloskey. She attended high school in Cleveland, Ohio, obtained a B.A. in economics from the University of Pittsburgh, and later received her law degree fromWestern Reserve University Law School (now Case-Western Reserve Law School). She was one of two women in her graduating law school class. After graduation she worked inWash- ington, D.C., as an attorney for the Securi- ties and Exchange Commission and later at the Department of Veterans Affairs. She was the recipient of a DVA Distinguished Career Award and was also a member of the D.C. and Virginia Bar Associations. In 1969 she married Stephen Chap- lin, a Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Information Agency. She accompa- nied her husband to overseas postings in Argentina, Mexico, Romania and Por- tugal, where she made lifelong friends. Living abroad, she enjoyed learning about other cultures and customs. Family and friends remember Mrs. Chaplin as a kind and selfless person who enjoyed dance and was a voracious reader. Mrs. Chaplin leaves behind her hus- band, her sons Christopher Chaplin of Los Angeles, Calif., and Jonathan Chaplin and his wife Sara Chaplin of Denver, Colo.; two sisters-in-law; and extended family in Ohio. She will be buried in Johnstown, Pa. Those wishing to honor Carol Chap- lin’s memory are encouraged tomake a donation in her name to a charitable, educational or philanthropic organization of their choice. Those wishing to convey condolences to StephenM. Chaplinmay do so via email: chaplincs@msn.com . Q Dorothy Jeanne Fischer, 90, the wife of retired FSO Forrest Fischer, died on Aug. 16 at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medi- cal Center in Lebanon N.H. Mrs. Fischer, née Schuster, was born in Chicago, Ill., on Aug. 26, 1926. She began her undergraduate degree at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, later continuing her studies in Guatemala City before receiving her B.A. degree at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., at the age of 56. In 1946 she married Forrest Fischer, a Foreign Service officer who served in numerous posts in Latin America and Southeast Asia. During her career as a Foreign Service wife, Mrs. Fischer assisted in founding an orphanage in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where a house bears her name. In Guate- mala, she worked closely with emergency crews and the Red Cross, assisting victims during the earthquake of 1976. While her husband served in Vietnam during the VietnamWar, Mrs. Fischer lived with her two daughters in Bangkok,