The Foreign Service Journal, December 2004

serve an additional year. She retired to Palm Desert, Calif., where she lived for many years before return- ing to the Pacific Northwest. Ms. Eckblom is survived by sis- ters Emma Keyes of Edmonds, Wash., and Lilly Geddie of Durham, N.C.; an aunt, Pearl Nelson of Seattle, Wash.; nieces Karen Rasmussen of Grand Junction, Colo., Joann Harris of Greeley, Colo., Janet Scott of Durham, N.C. and Donna Pallo-Perez of Olympia, Wash.; and nephew David Keyes Jr. of Bellevue, Wash., as well as sever- al great-nieces and -nephews. Mary Michelson Haselton , 84, retired FSO, accomplished artist and wife of the late FSO George Haselton, died Aug. 27 at her home in Hanover, N.H. Mrs. Haselton was born in Kansas City, Mo., on May 15, 1920, the daughter of Michael and Jeannette (MacFarlane) Michelson. She grew up in Topeka, Kan., and graduated from high school there. In 1941, she began a career in Washington, D.C., with the War Department. From 1953 to 1960, she was a leg- islative assistant to Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, D-Texas. After her appointment to the Foreign Service in 1960, she served as vice consul in Zurich and Munich until 1964, when her marriage to George Haselton, also a Foreign Service officer, required her to retire. She rejoined the Foreign Service in 1974 and served in several State Department positions, notably as deputy princi- pal officer and chargé d’affaires in Fiji. She retired in 1978. After studying at Washburn University, the University of Texas in Austin, and American University in Washington, D.C., she earned her ALB degree cum laude from Harvard University’s Extension School at the age of 81. Mr. and Mrs. Haselton also taught interna- tional relations at Simon’s Rock College in Great Barrington, Mass., and American studies at St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, England. Painting was Mrs. Haselton’s avo- cation and her award-winning works of art were shown in numerous exhi- bitions, including an exhibition of Texas artists in New York City. She was a finalist in the 1950 Metropolitan Museum of Art nation- al competition, “American Painting Today.” Mrs. Haselton’s husband died in 1995. She is survived by one broth- er, Calvin Michelson, of San Antonio, Texas; two sisters, Mrs. Rosalie Brooks and Mrs. Rosella Hupp, both of Topeka, Kan.; and a stepdaughter, Roxanne Summers, of Mattoon, Ill. William Helmer Holm , 85, retired FSO, died peacefully at his home in Sharon, Conn., on Sept. 3. Mr. Holm was born in New York City on Aug. 4, 1919, the son of Emilia (Johanson) and Helmer Holm. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School and Upsala College. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theater as a diver of the 119th Seabees, Company D. Mr. Holm retired from the State Department after serving in the consular service at posts in Greece, Ethiopia, Mexico, Somalia, Wales, Norway, France, Libya, Iran and Tunisia. “I was a free spirit,” he said. “I loved the world and I saw a lot of it.” Mr. Holm was a Sharon resident for 23 years. In addition to his wife of 55 years, Joelle (Le Marchand), survivors include four children; Melinda and William of New York City, Ingrid Story of Portland, Ore., and Steph- anie of London, England; seven grandchildren; and a sister, Claire Kunkel, of Chapel Hill, N.C. R. (Rayford) Glynn Mays Jr. , 83, retired FSO, died of pneumonia Aug. 26 at Montgomery General Hospital in Olney, Md. Mr. Mays was born in Birming- ham, Ala., and graduated from Drew University in 1942. During World War II, he served stateside as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army. In 1944, he married Matilda Frances Leonardo, who died in 2001. After the war, he attended Yale University, where he was a history instructor while he worked on his doctoral dis- sertation. Upon receiving his doc- torate in European history in 1951, Mr. Mays joined the State Department and moved to Silver Spring, Md. During his 43-year career at State, Mr. Mays held numerous posi- tions both in Washington and abroad. He served first as an intelli- gence research analyst and chief of the Eastern European Branch, Biographic Information. His team correctly predicted Nikita Khrush- chev’s rise to power in the Soviet Union in 1953 after the death of Joseph Stalin. Mr. Mays served with the Foreign Service in Europe from 1957 to 1964. He served as a political officer at the U.S. Mission in Berlin, and as region- al director for the department’s refugee program in Geneva. He also served in Salzburg and Frankfurt. In his later years, he worked in Washington as director of the Mon- 68 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 4 I N M E M O R Y