The Foreign Service Journal, December 2012

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2012 47 died on Oct. 7 at her home in Greenwich, Conn. Mrs. Sherer was 19 and studying anthropology at the University of Chicago when she met her future husband, Albert, known to everyone as Bud. He was seven years older and just out of Harvard Law School. The couple married in October 1944, after his return from 30 missions as a navigator over the central Pacific with the Army Air Corps. Mr. Sherer then joined the Foreign Service, and they began a 30-year dip- lomatic life abroad which Mrs. Sherer recounted in her memoir, A Great Adven- ture , self-published in 2007. The couple’s first overseas posting was Tangier, where they embarked with their infant son Peter and where their daugh- ter, Susan, was born. Next they were assigned to Budapest, but in 1951 the local government accused Albert of spying, and gave the family 24 hours to leave the country. The story made the papers at home beneath the headline “Reds Boot Yanks” and a pho- tograph of an innocent-looking young family. Then it was on to Washington, D.C., where their son Tony was born in 1953. Assignments in Prague, Warsaw and Lome, where Mr. Sherer served as the ambassador, followed. In Togo, Mrs. Sherer raised money for local students by gathering crafts from all over the country for sale in a store on the main coastal road between Nigeria and Ghana. She named the shop “Togo a Gogo,” and added an atelier to make clothes from African fabrics for passing tourists. The New York Times called it “the best boutique in West Africa” despite “an awful name.” Mr. Sherer served as U.S. ambassador to Guinea (1970-1971) and to Czechoslo- vakia (1972-1975) before retiring. Later, the couple settled in Chicago, where Mr. Sherer died in 1986. Mrs. Sherer studied interior design and opened her own busi- ness, CS Designs, running the company until 2001. She returned to Greenwich to live near her family, which included bur- geoning numbers of grandchildren and, then, great-grandchildren who called her MaMere. Not long ago, as family members recall, her great-grandsons Ben and Pete bounded over to her house in their box- ers at dawn to wish her a happy birthday. When they asked what she would like to mark the occasion, she said, “I want you two to put on some pants.” Despite her peripatetic life, Mrs. Sherer understood the importance of tra- dition, and especially those that were so much fun that no one could really resist. In Michigan, she revived the summer theatricals of her childhood, encouraging kids of all ages to participate in elaborate productions such as “Snow White and Rose Red,” “The Princess and the Pea” and “Rapunzel.” Those not old enough to memorize lines could always serve as assorted village folk or perhaps sheep. In Greenwich, she also invented Cousins Weekend, initially for homesick cousins marooned on the East Coast at school in the winter. They would come together around a theme requiring cos- tumes, perhaps toasts or poems. Those weekends persist today, with a greater mix of generations and a bit less poetry. Mrs. Sherer never officially stopped traveling; she just eased up. Well into her 80s, she kept a set of Spanish-language tapes next to her bed so she could brush up. Last year, at the age of 88 she told her son Peter and his wife, Marilu, that she wanted to stay healthy because she was planning on going to her great-grand- daughter Mae’s wedding. Mae at the time was 4 years old. Friends and family recall Mrs. Sherer as a woman who understood the thrill of going far, far away and the importance of coming back where you belong. Though she spent much of her life in faraway places, at the end she was in a room she designed, in a house she had known for 70 years, with four generations in her orbit. Carroll Russell Sherer is survived by her sons, Peter (and his wife, Marilu) of Washington, D.C., and Anthony of Beth- lehem, Conn.; her daughter, Susan Osnos (and her husband, Peter) of Greenwich, Conn.; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. n You Are Our Eyes & Ears! Dear Readers: In order to produce a high-quality product, the FSJ depends on the revenue it earns from advertising. You can help with this. Please let us know the names of companies that have provided good service to you — a hotel, insurance company, auto dealership, or other concern. A referral from our readers is the best entrée! Ed Miltenberger Advertising & Circulation Manager Tel: (202) 944-5507 E-mail: miltenberger@afsa.org