The Foreign Service Journal, November 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2021 95 n George Anthony Gowen , 76, a retired Foreign Service officer, died of atherosclerotic coronary disease on July 19 in Austin, Texas. Born on Aug. 17, 1944, in Hackensack, N.J., to Captain George A. Gowen (U.S. Navy) and Sue Ernest Gowen, Mr. Gowen had the roving upbringing of a typical Navy brat, particularly cherishing his time at the Punahou School in Honolulu. He graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, fromColgate University, class of 1966, and received a master’s degree in public policy from the WoodrowWilson School of International Affairs at Princ- eton University. Later joining the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service officer, Mr. Gowen served in Vietnam, Argentina, Singapore and France. His work in the State Department’s Office of the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls highlighted his special expertise in international trade relations. For more than a decade, Mr. Gowen volunteered at Austin Pets Alive, the area’s premier no-kill animal shelter, which provided one of the most reward- ing experiences of his retirement. He was an avid music lover with a particular fondness for Ian & Sylvia, Tom Russell, Dave Stamey and Sibelius. Friends appre- ciated him for his wit, sense of humor, compassion and integrity. Mr. Gowen is survived by his wife of 51 years, Anita (Nina); daughter Anne Elizabeth (a New Jersey attorney); brother Lt. Comm. Charles T. Gowen, USN (ret.), of Virginia Beach, Va.; sister Sue Williford Ruscoe of Taos, N.M.; and their children and grandchildren. n Ernest Barnwell Johnston Jr. , 91, a retired Foreign Service officer, died suddenly on Aug. 16 of cardiac arrest while out on errands with his wife, Joan, in Shepherdstown, W.Va. Born on June 26, 1930, in Selma, Ala., he was the son of the late Ernest Barnwell Johnston and Emma JuliaThomas. After leaving Alabama to attend college, study abroad and serve two years in the U.S. Army, he joined the Foreign Service in 1956. From 1956 to 1958, he served in the International Exchange Service in Wash- ington. In January 1958 he married Joan Lord of Boxford, Mass., and within a few months, the couple took up residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where Mr. Johnston served as vice consul until 1960 and their first daughter was born. From there, the family moved to Madrid, where he was the economic- commercial officer and then the assistant commercial attaché at the embassy from 1960 to 1965, and two more daughters were born. Over an academic year in Berkeley, Calif., Mr. Johnston earned a master’s degree in economics. In 1966 he and his family returned to Washington where he worked at the State Department until 1969 as an economist and then assistant chief of the Trade Agreements Division, and their fourth daughter was born. From 1961 to 1971, he was a staff member at the National Security Council. The family did one more academic year in California while Mr. Johnston was a Sloan Fellow at Stanford University. From 1972 to 1977, the family lived in Brussels where Mr. Johnston was first a trade policy officer, then economic coun- selor at the U.S. Mission to the European Community. Mr. Johnston’s last term of government service took place in Washington from 1977 to 1982, first as executive assistant to the under secretary of State for economic affairs, and then principal deputy to the assistant secretary of State for economic affairs. After a short stint in the private sector, he retired in 1986. In December 1989, Mr. and Mrs. Johnston moved to Shepherdstown to a brick house built in 1860, where they finally were able to live in one place for longer than five years. In retirement, Mr. Johnston took up genealogy, creating an extensive electronic record and self- publishing several books and booklets. He planted trees and narcissus, tended grapes and asparagus, worked with his tractor and cut wood, while his wife set up a small pottery and a garden. The couple traveled extensively after their last government post, including trips to see the structures of ancient civiliza- tions that were of particular fascination to them. Mr. Johnston maintained fluency in several languages. He loved spending the last 32 years of his life in Shepherdstown, where he and his wife made many close friends. He found enjoyment in most days, right up to his last. He is survived by his wife, Joan, four daughters, one sister, six grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, and friends. In addition to his parents, he was pre- ceded in death by his brother. n Kenneth Adolf Kurze , 84, a retired Foreign Service officer, passed away on Feb. 24 in Middletown, R.I. Mr. Kurze was born on July 6, 1936, in Providence, R.I., to Adolf O. Kurze and Louise A. Suter of Cranston, R.I. He graduated from Cranston High School in 1954, Brown University in 1958, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in 1959. That year, he fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming a Foreign Service officer when he joined the State Department. Fluent in German, French and Hindi, Mr. Kurze served overseas for 30 years, including in New Delhi, Bombay