The Foreign Service Journal, November 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2020 87 In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Senior Living Foundation, or to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. n Edwin Monroe Cronk , 102, a retired Foreign Service officer and ambassador, died on Sept. 1 at the Buck- ingham’s Choice senior living commu- nity in Frederick, Md. Mr. Cronk was born to William F. Cronk and Edith Hanson on May 20, 1918, in Minneapolis, where he grew up and graduated from Central High School. He attended Deep Springs College in Deep Springs, Calif. (class of 1936), and then Cornell University (class of 1941). He married Dorothy Montgom- ery in 1943. Mr. Cronk served in the Air Force from 1942 to 1946 in the Pacific the- ater. As part of the rebuilding of Japan after World War II, he became chief of Japanese financial trade affairs at the State Department from 1951 to 1956 and subsequently joined the Foreign Service. His overseas postings included Korea, Germany and Australia, with a final assignment as U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Singapore from 1972 to 1975. After his retirement from government service, Mr. Cronk became dean of Deep Springs College, his alma mater, where he served from 1976 to 1980. He contin- ued as a trustee of the college and was chair of the board for three years. He and his wife, Dorothy, called Washington, D.C., home for many years until moving to a retirement community in Frederick, Md. Friends say that Mr. Cronk lived a long and fulfilling life; he worked hard and played hard, laughed easily, was a terrific father and a friend to everyone. Mr. Cronk was preceded in death in 2008 by Dorothy, his wife of 66 years. He is survived by two daughters, MaryEd Hartnell (and her husband, Anthony) of Sydney, Australia, and Nan Cronk- Walker (and her husband, Kenneth) of Frederick, Md.; son James of Surprise, Ariz. (and wife Sally); eight grandchil- dren; and 12 great-grandchildren. n Claudine Pearson Luppi , 92, the former spouse of a retired Foreign Ser- vice officer, died on Aug. 4 in Sherman Oaks, Calif., due to complications from COVID-19. The eldest of eight children, Ms. Pearson was born in Lewiston, Idaho, on March 30, 1928, to Anna Lucile (Sanderlin) and Wilbur Leander Pear- son. Family and friends considered her a shining light—smart, funny, talented, beautiful and intent on making her way in the world. After graduating Lewiston High School, she worked as a reporter for the Lewiston Morning Tribune and began undergraduate studies in journalism. In 1950 she married Hobart Luppi, who subsequently became a career dip- lomat with the State Department. The couple lived in Egypt, India and Pakistan for the next three decades. In India, Mrs. Luppi was an impor- tant part of the American community, serving as president of the American Women’s Club, while also raising four children. During Jacqueline Kennedy’s visit to New Delhi in 1962, Mrs. Luppi was a member of the “Banquet Commit- tee,” which organized all aspects of the official dinner for the First Lady. That special dinner included guests Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Ambassador John Kenneth Galbraith and other dignitaries (a copy of her personal account of the event, “A Dinner for the First Lady,” was donated to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston). In the mid-1960s, Mrs. Luppi com- pleted her undergraduate degree in edu- cation and taught fifth and sixth grades for several years in Loudoun County, Va. In 1970 the family returned overseas, living in Karachi and Islamabad, where she was a renowned hostess, a leading member of the American community and a journalism teacher/faculty adviser at Karachi American School. During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, American nationals were evacu- ated from Karachi to Tehran, and Mrs. Luppi played a key role as one of the leaders in charge of organizing and assisting evacuees during their month- long stay, including publishing a daily newsletter for them. After her divorce in 1977, Mrs. Luppi joined ARAMCO as an elementary school teacher in Saudi Arabia before relocating to Las Vegas, where she was part of the editorial staff for What’s On In Las Vegas . Over the next 30 years she continued to seek out new adventures, living in Virginia, California, Florida, Texas and Washington state, while focusing on her personal writing projects, including an extensive family history/cookbook co-authored with her cousin Glory Ellen Pearson Peel. Friends say Mrs. Luppi loved her fam- ily, teaching, writing and being a friend and mentor to anyone who needed a helping hand. Mrs. Luppi’s son Brian predeceased her in 1973. She is survived by three of her chil- dren, Mark (and his wife, Eveline), Mary Basich (and her husband, Anthony), and Ann Von Mehren (former FSJ editor in chief), as well as six grandchildren: Elizabeth “Tika,” Edward and Colin Von Mehren; and Chase, Arielle and Connor.