The Foreign Service Journal, December 2012

44 DECEMBER 2012 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Scientific and Cultural Organization Affairs. Mr. Brock was also assigned to the U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States. An enthusiast of all types of music, Mr. Brock was a pianist and organist. He performed at numerous concerts in the Washington, D.C., area and overseas as an accompanist to vocalists, instru- mentalists and choral groups. In 2007 he recorded a compact disc of Negro spiri- tuals with Natalie Carter, a prominent Washington-area contralto. Mr. Brock spoke fluent French and Spanish and had lived in Puerto Rico and Jamaica before joining the For- eign Service. He won numerous State Department awards, as well as the Ordre du Mérite from the French government and the Cruz de Caballero de la Orden de Isabel la Católica from the Spanish government. Family, friends and colleagues remember his keen intelligence, gentle- manly demeanor, devotion to his family and commitment to serving his country. Mr. Brock is survived by his wife, Odile; four daughters, Gabrielle, Char- lotte, Sophie and Odette; and three grandchildren, Zahraa, Gabriel and Leila; as well as his mother, Susan Goodykoontz; brothers Matthew Brock, Clement Brock and Bill Goodykoontz; and sister Mary Susan Gilmore. For those wishing to honor Mr. Brock, the family welcomes donations in his name to the Crohn’s and Colitis Founda- tion of America (www.ccfa.org). n Marjorie Coffin , 63, a retired FSO, died on Sept. 8 at her mother’s home in Hagerstown, Md., after an 18-month struggle with ovarian cancer. Born in El Paso, Texas, Ms. Coffin attended South Hagerstown High School and Susquehanna College in Pennsylva- nia. She went on to graduate from Ameri- can University in Washington, D.C., with a degree in theater arts. Ms. Coffin joined the Foreign Service in 1975. Her postings included Japan, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Spain, Turkey, El Salvador, Mexico and Washington, D.C. She worked primarily in the cultural affairs arena with the U.S. Information Agency, to which she transferred in 1988, and the public diplomacy sector of the State Department. At USIA, she was director of the Cuba, Mexico and Panama office from 1996 to 1998. Before the agency was folded into the State Department in 1999, Ms. Coffin served as the public affairs officer in El Salvador. From 2002 to 2006, she was the cul- tural affairs officer in Mexico. During this posting, she also served on the Fulbright Commission Board, which helps facilitate educational and cultural exchanges. Ms. Coffin received multiple Meritorious Ser- vice Awards for her government service. She was an enthusiastic supporter of cross-cultural exchange to expand the understanding between peoples of the United States and other countries, and took great pride in organizing programs and projects that brought American cul- ture to far-flung corners of the world. Ms. Coffin retired in 2007 as deputy director of the State Department’s Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, and settled in Arlington County, Va. Wherever she was posted during her Foreign Service career, Ms. Coffin enjoyed singing in choruses and partici- pating in community theater. She was a soprano with the Capitol Hill Chorale during the 1990s. A skilled knitter and crocheter who donated most of her work to charity, she also served as a volunteer at Inova Alexandria Hospital. An enthusiastic traveler, she had visited every continent and had hoped to spend much of her retirement exploring them in more detail. Ms. Coffin’s father, A.E. (Jeff) Cof- fin, died in 1973. She is survived by her mother, Doris B. Dillon of Hagerstown, Md.; a stepbrother, Dan Dillon of Tri- angle, Va.; and two cousins in Brazil. n Roger Melvin Currier IV , 77, a retired Foreign Service specialist, died at home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., on Sept. 22 after a long battle with colon cancer. The son of General and Mrs. Roger Currier, Mr. Currier was a West Point Military Academy graduate (class of 1957) with a master’s degree in engi- neering from Texas A&M University. He was commissioned in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and worked with the Army Corps and the State Department throughout his career. Mr. Currier joined the State Depart- ment Office of Building Operations in the mid-1980s, and traveled extensively for the department as project director for upgrading and fortifying diplomatic and consular establishments. He will be most prominently remem- bered for his four-year tenure as project director for renovation of the Embassy Tirana compound, and for his accom- plishments in the final demolition of the embassy building in Kenya following the 1998 terrorist bombing. All who knew him admired his bril- liance, sparkling wit and his proven abil- ity to get things done. Born in Chicago, Ill., Mr. Currier lived in Hawaii, Alaska, Japan, England, Alba- nia, Kenya and the U.S. Virgin Islands, before settling in Florida. He is survived by his wife, Shirley Anne, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; his children, Nina Gadsdon of the United