I have a strange fascination with obituaries. In DC, I always enjoyed reading the obit featured each weekend of a regular DC area resident, usually a civil servant of some sort who, in his or her own small way, found a means to have a meaningful impact on a huge bureaucracy. Abroad, I make sure to read the obit in The Economist before the magazine can leave the house, to be reread by our driver or by someone in the embassy's American Citizen Services waiting room. Tonight, for the first time (surprisingly), I read through the obits in the Foreign Service Journal.
These I found so interesting since I'm at the relative start of my career -- the majority of the obits are for people aged 80+, so they lend insight not only to what a career with the Foreign Service might look like, but also what people do for another 20 years after retirement, having travelled the world and never really "settled" in one place. In this issue, I most enjoyed two obits for wives of officers - their ability to reinvent themselves every few years, likely for little pay (if any), astounded me. Excerpts for your reading pleasure:
Marguerite (Owens) Anderson, 92. Mrs. Anderson accompanied her husband to postings abroad for 20 years, including South Africa (where their twin sons were born), Thailand, Singapore, and Germany. Active in the community wherever she found herself, Mrs. Anderson helped start the American School in Singapore and taught fifth and sixth grade classes. She also helped start a school for Chinese women to learn home economics, and another that taught Chinese children to read. In West Berlin, Mrs. Anderson was president of the American Women's Club, chaired the American Red Cross Grey Ladies, and organized and taught English and American customs to German war brides. In addition, she chaired the "Conference of American Women's Activities in Germany." She wrote and lectured on business- and club-related activities.
The couple returned to Kensington, MD in 1960. There, Mrs. Anderson taught business courses ... and wrote a number of business-related pieces, including "How to Run a Club." She was an active member of Business and Professional Women.
Susan Elizabeth Gilmour Callaway, 72. [...] During her husband's long career in the Foreign Service, Mrs. Callaway held several positions overseas. She taught at a private university in Caracas, tutored journalists at a major newspaper in Zagreb, continued her studies at Johns Hopkins University in Bologna, and established an SAT prep company in Rome. All the while, she also managed the responsibilities that came with being the spouse of a U.S. diplomat and raised three children.
Upon returning to the U.S., she edited the corporate newsletter for Vie de France, and then found her next passion advocating for homeless rights in Washington, D.C. at the Community Council for the Homeless. Over eight years, Mrs. Callaway championed a holistic approach to the problem of homelessness.
[back to my commentary]
Mind you, these women accomplished all this in a time without internet and Amazon.com pouch deliveries. In an era of the Foreign Service where married women could not be Foreign Service Officers and their husbands' professional evaluations included an evaluation of themselves, as well (i.e., the husband's supervisor evaluated the wife). Hats off to Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Callaway!
These I found so interesting since I'm at the relative start of my career -- the majority of the obits are for people aged 80+, so they lend insight not only to what a career with the Foreign Service might look like, but also what people do for another 20 years after retirement, having travelled the world and never really "settled" in one place. In this issue, I most enjoyed two obits for wives of officers - their ability to reinvent themselves every few years, likely for little pay (if any), astounded me. Excerpts for your reading pleasure:
Marguerite (Owens) Anderson, 92. Mrs. Anderson accompanied her husband to postings abroad for 20 years, including South Africa (where their twin sons were born), Thailand, Singapore, and Germany. Active in the community wherever she found herself, Mrs. Anderson helped start the American School in Singapore and taught fifth and sixth grade classes. She also helped start a school for Chinese women to learn home economics, and another that taught Chinese children to read. In West Berlin, Mrs. Anderson was president of the American Women's Club, chaired the American Red Cross Grey Ladies, and organized and taught English and American customs to German war brides. In addition, she chaired the "Conference of American Women's Activities in Germany." She wrote and lectured on business- and club-related activities.
The couple returned to Kensington, MD in 1960. There, Mrs. Anderson taught business courses ... and wrote a number of business-related pieces, including "How to Run a Club." She was an active member of Business and Professional Women.
Susan Elizabeth Gilmour Callaway, 72. [...] During her husband's long career in the Foreign Service, Mrs. Callaway held several positions overseas. She taught at a private university in Caracas, tutored journalists at a major newspaper in Zagreb, continued her studies at Johns Hopkins University in Bologna, and established an SAT prep company in Rome. All the while, she also managed the responsibilities that came with being the spouse of a U.S. diplomat and raised three children.
Upon returning to the U.S., she edited the corporate newsletter for Vie de France, and then found her next passion advocating for homeless rights in Washington, D.C. at the Community Council for the Homeless. Over eight years, Mrs. Callaway championed a holistic approach to the problem of homelessness.
[back to my commentary]
Mind you, these women accomplished all this in a time without internet and Amazon.com pouch deliveries. In an era of the Foreign Service where married women could not be Foreign Service Officers and their husbands' professional evaluations included an evaluation of themselves, as well (i.e., the husband's supervisor evaluated the wife). Hats off to Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Callaway!
3 comments:
Now I feel like a lazy slacker. Those women are amazing!
I know - I had the same reaction :)
I've always loved this part of the FS journals. It's so amazing to read what our professional forbears did with their lives!
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