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Archive | 2012

Estera Votaw

Estera Fenjves Votaw of Washington, D.C., survivor of the Holocaust, and widowed by the 1983 Iranian terrorist bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, died July 30, 2012, at age 83. She accompanied her husband, Albert Votaw who worked in RHUDO, on assignments in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire; Tunis, Tunisia; and Bangkok, Thailand. Albert was transferred to Beirut in April 1983, where he was one of several USAID officers killed in the Embassy bombing. Estera had not yet joined him there. She is survived by her brother, four daughters, eight grand-children, and two great-grandchildren. Donations can be made in Estera’s name to the World Monuments Fund, 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2412, New York, NY 10118 wmf@wmf.org) or (www.wmf.org/donate).

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Donald Cohen

Donald D. Cohen, 77, a retired Foreign Service officer who later led international development organizations, died July 29 at the Washington Home hospice in the District. He had complications from pulmonary disease, his wife, Jeanne Kersting Cohen, said. Mr. Cohen began his career in 1962 with the U.S. Agency for International Development. He served as a program officer in Korea and Turkey in the 1960s and 1970s. As USAID mission director in Thailand from 1978 to 1982, Mr. Cohen helped set up a refu­gee camp for Cambodians fleeing strife in their country. From 1982 to 1988, he was a member of the State Department’s policy planning office and also served as the director of the Office of Economic Analysis. In 1988, Mr. Cohen became chief executive of Volunteers for Overseas Cooperative Assistance (VOCA), a non-governmental organization that provided volunteers and services for rural and economic development. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, VOCA received USAID grants to provide agricultural and economic assistance to many countries in the old Soviet bloc. Mr. Cohen visited more than a dozen nations that were adjusting to life after communism. “VOCA was the first U.S. entity in these countries,” said Don Moores, who worked with Mr. Cohen at the time and is now an immigration lawyer in Bethesda. “He literally was the first person representing the United States to set foot in these places in the former ‘Evil Empire.’ ” For his work in Eastern Europe, Mr. Cohen received the presidential End Hunger Award from George H.W. Bush in 1989. Mr. Cohen left VOCA in the late 1990s, when it merged with another organization. He later served as managing director of the Washington office of Plan USA, an international humanitarian group providing services for children. He retired in 2007. Donald David Cohen was born May 9, 1935, in Lowell, Mass. After serving in the Army in the mid-1950s, he graduated from the University of Florida in 1962. He was a research fellow in international studies at Harvard University in 1972-73. He participated in civil rights marches in the 1960s, including the 1963 March on Washington, and established a bed-and-breakfast program to house people attending the “Resurrection City” encampment on the Mall in 1968. Mr. Cohen lived in Chevy Chase for many years before moving to the District. His marriage to Bettina Callaway ended in divorce. Survivors include his wife of 35 years, Jeanne Kersting Cohen of Washington; a daughter from his first marriage, Tamara Cohen Preiss of Arlington County; two children from his second marriage, Allison Cohen and Christopher Cohen, both of Washington; and two grandchildren.
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Daniel Mackell

Daniel J. Mackell, Sr., 85, a retired career Foreign Service Officer, died peacefully on August 22, 2012 at Collingswood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Rockville, Maryland. Mr. Mackell was born on January 9, 1927 in Yeadon, PA. He served his country in the US Army during WWII, stationed on Okinawa. Upon his return, he attended VPI on the GI Bill, and graduated from Villanova University with a degree in Chemical Engineering. Mr. Mackell’s lengthy and varied career began as a consultant for Pennsalt, followed by management positions with Metropolitan Life Insurance, Klein and Saks Management Consultants, and Esso. In 1969, Mr. Mackell joined the Foreign Service as an Economic and Development Loan Officer for USAID, and traveled with his family to posts in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, and Jamaica. Additionally, Mr. Mackell traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Mr. Mackell was predeceased by his wife Joan C. Mackell, in 2000. He was a loving, attentive and devoted father, Pop-Pop and great-grandfather to his large family. Survivors include seven children, Marianne T. O’Brien (Jack) of Monroe, NC, Kathleen A. Horner (Michael) of Leesburg, VA, Thomas P. Mackell (Margaret) of Richmond, VA, Daniel J. Mackell, Jr. of Greenwich, CT, Joan C. Alden (Ed) of Roswell, GA, Christine X. Rocha (Charles) of Landenberg, PA, and Paul R. Mackell (Lucia) of Chevy Chase, MD; 20 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren. Mass will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, September 7, 2012 at The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Washington, DC. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to a charity of your choice .
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Casimira (Cassy) Zak

Cassy Zak, age 100, died peacefully at the home she shared with her daughter, retired FSO Marilyn Zak, in Alexandria, VA. She was under the care of Capital Caring, a hospice service, and died of Alzheimer’s. Mrs. Zak was born April 20, 1912 in Chicago, Il. After becoming a Register Nurse, she worked at Cook County Hospital. When asked who was her most famous patient, she would smile and say “Al Capone. He was very good to the nurses and gave out $20 bills and chocolates to us.” Quite something during the Depression. In 1937 she married Robert A Zak, and in 1947 would move with her husband and two children, Robert T and Marilyn, to Everett Washington where she worked for more than 30 years as a nurse at Providence Hospital. Mrs. Zak helped establish the nurses association at the hospital, was active in civil defense activities and the guild of her church. When Marilyn first joined USAID in 1966, Cassy and her husband were devoted parents to their traveling daughter. They first visited her in Asuncion Paraguay. After the death of her husband in 1988, Mrs. Zak would visit her daughter who was then Deputy Director in Kingston, Jamaica for a month each year at Christmas to enjoy tropical weather and to dance the soca until early hours of the morning. When Marilyn was Mission Director in the Dominican Republic, she added the merengue and salsa to her dancing. Before the end of Marilyn’s tour, Cassy would come to live with her daughter. Mrs. Zak accompanied her daughter during her tour as Mission Director in Managua, Nicaragua from 1998 to 2002. Cassy was a lively participant in diplomatic life, USAID activities, and helped the victims of Hurricane Mitch. Mrs. Zak would celebrate her 90th birthday in Managua at home with with pink balloons everywhere and a Mariachi band. In June 2002 Cassy returned to the US to live with her daughter before Marilyn’s retirement in 2003. Cassy continued her love of dancing, and her daughter’s 95th birthday present to her was 2 one hour dance lessons with a very good looking Brazilian dance instructor, named Fabio, at the local dance studio. During her illness, Cassy never lost her sweetness or kindness to others. Cassy was buried July 13th next to her husband and sister in Everett Washington. Survivors include her daughter, a son and daughter-in-law in Vancouver WA, 2 grandsons, and 2 great grandchildren.
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Barbara Pillsbury

Barbara Linné Kroll Pillsbury Milne, Ph.D. age 69 of Malibu, CA, Washington, DC, and a citizen of the world, passed away on September 27, 2012, surrounded by her family. Born and raised in Bemidji, MN, Barbara graduated from Bemidji High School, attended the University of Minnesota receiving a B.S. in home economics with journalism minor, earned a M.A. in applied linguistics from Columbia University Teachers College and a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Columbia University where she studied with renowned anthropologist Margaret Mead. Her doctoral dissertation on Muslim Chinese was a pioneering study that remains the basis for the work of later scholars in the field. Barbara learned to speak fluent Chinese and combined that skill with her knowledge of Muslim societies and cultures, gleaned from her days at the American University in Cairo. She continued to contribute to the world of scholarship through numerous research papers and conference presentations as well as mentoring students seeking to follow her in the complex issues she so deftly maneuvered. Her career in cultural and medical anthropology spanned the globe, taking her to 100 countries, where she worked tirelessly to make the world a better place, through groundbreaking research and policy recommendations on women’s health and family planning issues in developing countries. Barbara left a profound contribution as a visionary leader in the areas of international development, reproductive and sexual health, HIV/AIDS education, child survival, and global gender issues. Never one to be left out of a conversation, she learned thirteen languages, with a particular love for Chinese and Swedish. Barbara has been an inspiration to young scholars by showing them an alternative career path in anthropology, aside from traditional academia. She was a pioneer in taking the theoretical and practical knowledge and skills out of the university setting and applying them to efforts to improve the welfare of people around the globe. Barbara helped found six organizations (most notably the Pacific Institute for Women’s Health) and has served on numerous boards of directors, including the American Anthropological Association, the Global Health Council, and the International Women’s Health Coalition. She held positions with many governmental and non-governmental organizations, including WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, USAID, the World Bank, International Planned Parenthood Federation, and the Rockefeller, Hewlett, Ford, Gates and Compton foundations. Preceded in death by her father Richard Kroll, Barbara was the daughter of her beloved mother Edna (Engvall) Kroll of St. Louis Park, MN; loving mother of Heather Milne (David) Cristman of Cincinnati, OH, and Kristina Milne of New York City, NY; dear sisters Connie Kroll Skildum of Eagan, MN and Anne Kroll (Doug) Dahlen of Burnsville, MN; plus many nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, and countless friends and colleagues. A Celebration of Life service for family and close friends will be held at the Minnesota Humanities Center in Saint Paul, MN on Sunday, 1:00 p.m., October 7, followed by a California service for family & friends on October 13 at 10:30 am (8600 Westward Beach Road, Malibu CA). Memorials are preferred to The Molly Gingerich Fund (301-670-0994) or the SHARE Institute (http://www.theshareinstitute.org), two organizations that help young women around the globe.
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Everett Mosely

Former USAID Inspector General Everett Mosely passed away on Thursday, October 18, 2012. Everett was a charismatic man who embraced and enjoyed life every single day. Hailing from Mississippi, he attended Grambling State University before embarking on a career as an auditor, manager, and inspector general for the federal government. He loved his work, professional and collegiate sports, humor, and every manner of electronic gadget – but most of all he loved his family and friends. He is survived by his best friend and wife of 43 years, Alice P. Mosley; son and daughter-in-law, Damian Mosley and Raegan McDonald-Mosley; brother, Alonzo Mosley; nephew, Troy Mosley; niece, Monica Croft; sister-in-law, Velma Mosley; cousin, Juadine Cleveland; and his best buddies, grandchildren, Idris and Indigo Mosley.

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Lyle Dean Bernius

Lyle Dean Bernius, 71, of Keene, NH passed away Feb. 11, 2012, at his home surrounded by family and friends after a courageous fight with cancer.

He was born in Vandalia, Ill., June 2, 1940, son of Paul and Alice (Brown) Bernius. He graduated from Vandalia High School and then from Chaminade University in Honolulu. He went on to receive his master’s in business administration from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. In 1973, he married Cathy Garren in Arlington, Va.

Mr. Bernius began his career with the U.S. Agency for International Development, an agency of the U.S. State Department in 1968. Starting in Vietnam, he served in a number of countries including Kinshasa, Zaire, Port Au Prince, Haiti, Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Maseru, Lesotho. He retired from diplomatic service in 1990, and moved to Keene with his family in 1992.

In his retirement, he kept busy managing family-owned rental properties. He also served on the boards of the Woodward Home and the United Spinal Association, formerly Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association. Mr. Bernius enjoyed skiing, often volunteering with an adaptive ski program. Always open to new challenges, he became a talented watercolor painter. An avid reader, his interests included politics, Westerns, mysteries and some science fiction. He enjoyed fishing, traveling, and wandering back roads. Nicknamed the “Ice Cream Man,” he was popular with family and friends for his homemade ice cream and blueberry jelly.

He is remembered by his family and friends as an open-hearted, generous and knowledgeable man, who was a good conversationalist, gifted and colorful storyteller, and a humorous practical jokester.

Survivors include his wife of 38 years, Cathy Bernius of Keene; his two daughters, Stephanie Kimber and her husband, Matthew, and Amanda Bernius, all of Keene; and many very close family friends. His parents, his sister, Norma Case, and his father and mother-in-law, Joseph and Martha Garren, all died earlier.

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