Edward Ignatius Donoghue of Lanham, Maryland passed away on Wednesday, May 11, 2016. He was the husband of the late Mary Donoghue.
Ed Donoghue was a long time staff member and division chief in USAID’s Africa Bureau, serving under many Assistant Administrators and Directors of the Office of Development Planning. He will surely be remembered fondly by many of his colleagues.
William Haven North passed away on December 12. He was 91. He retired from USAID in 1989 at the rank of Career Minister after 38 years of US government service, including two years in the U.S. Army.
Haven North was born in Summit, New Jersey on August 17, 1926. He graduated from Summit High School and was drafted into the U.S Army in 1944. He served the infantry in Europe, primarily Germany, for two years and played the trombone in the Seventh Army Band. He graduated from Wesleyan University, majoring in history, in 1949 and received his Masters in European History from Columbia University in 1951. Haven North and Jeanne Foote married in 1950.
Haven North began his civilian government career in 1952 as a Foreign Service Officer in the Technical Cooperation Agency—created to implement “Point Four” of President Truman’s inaugural address. Within six months, he was assigned to Ethiopia where he served for five years in the program office and as a research assistant supporting the Ministry of Education. In 1957, he returned to Washington to the Europe Bureau, supporting Marshall Plan projects and planning long-term assistance for newly independent African states. From 1961 to 1965, he served as the Assistant Director for Program in USAID’s new mission to Nigeria, the largest technical assistance program in the world at that time.
After a year of mid-career training at Harvard, he returned to Washington as the Office Director for Central and West Africa and the coordinator of relief operations during the Nigerian civil war. In 1970, he was sworn in as the Mission Director to Ghana, where he served for five and half years.
He was the Deputy Assistant Administrator, and Acting Assistant Administrator, in the Africa Bureau from 1976 to 1982, under three presidential administrations. During this period, the New Directions policy led to the expansion of USAID’s presence in the region. After leaving the Africa Bureau, Haven North laid the groundwork for creating the African Development Foundation. From 1983 to 1989, he created and led USAID’s Center for Development Information & Evaluation, and served as the chair of the OECD/Development Assistance Committee’s Expert Group on Evaluation for four years. He retired in January 1989.
After leaving USAID, Haven North worked as a consultant to the World Bank, UNDP, the IFC, the IDB, USAID, the OECD/DAC and the Global Environmental Facility. He led evaluations and advised on capacity development, technical assistance, HIV/AIDS, post-apartheid strategies for South Africa, and USAID’s program in Iraq.
He also interviewed retired USAID officers about their careers to create a library of over 100 oral histories, and he worked for the U.S. Institute of Peace in recording oral histories of U.S. civilians and military serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Haven and Jeanne North were married for almost 65 years. They shared a love of international development and social justice and were active in their church. With retirement from USAID, he devoted more of his time to the Bethesda United Methodist Church and especially to the community outreach programs and the Community Ministry (now, Interfaith Works).
Haven North is survived by his sister Louise Grey; daughter Jeannette Thannikary and her husband Cy; sons W. Ashby North and Charles North and Charles’s wife Sharon; and granddaughters Aarica North, and her husband Liam Voth, and Sarah North.
A memorial service will be held on January 6 2017, at 2:00, at the Bethesda United Methodist Church, 8300 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, Maryland 20814. In lieu of flowers, the family recommends donations to the Bethesda United Methodist Church (washmorefeet.org), Interfaith Works (iworksmc.org), the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (adst.org) and the UAA’s USAID History Project (ashakow@comcast.net).
Cards to the family can be sent to Charles North at 1605 Wrightson Drive, McLean, VA 22101.
After a long illness, Dick Brown passed away on the morning of January 1.
Dick Brown was long recognized for his lifelong commitment to advancing political and economic development around the world.
Dick graduated from Woodstock School in 1958. He received his BA in Political Science from Muskingum College., Ohio. After graduation, he joined the Peace Corps, working in poultry development in Uttar Pradesh, India. He returned to the US to earn a MA degree in Asian Studies and a Doctorate in International Relations from the American University in Washington D.C. Upon receiving his degree, he returned to the Peace Corps in India to direct training programs in poultry development, farm management, applied nutrition and livestock development.
After the Peace Corps, he joined the United Nations Development Program working in Korea, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. In 1980, Dick joined USAID, where he served with distinction for 20 years, with postings in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Egypt. In 2000, his work for USAID was recognized with its Distinguished Career Service Award, and in 2002 he was awarded Presidential Distinguished Rank, the highest US Government Award.
After retiring from USAID in 2000, Dick became Vice-President of Winrock International, an NGO specializing in rural development, renewable energy, and environment.
A memorial service will be held later in the year.
Joseph Milton Lieberson, 75, of Rockville, Maryland, died Friday, January 5, 2018 at Copper Ridge Assisted Living, Sykesville, Maryland.
Mr. Lieberson was born April 26, 1942 in Washington, DC. He was the son of the late Homer David Lieberson and Bertha Roseman Lieberson.
He graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and received a Master’s Degree in Economics from American University.
He worked for the US Agency for International Development for 38 years and retired in 2005.
He married Ann Elizabeth Newlin of Chevy Chase, Maryland, on June 12, 1965.
Margaret (Margo) Karnz, age 94, died on Sunday, January 14, 2018 after a brief illness in Newton, New Jersey. Miss Kranz was born in Freeport, New York. She studied piano at the Eastman School of Music, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Rochester. She earned her master’s degree from Florida State University in Spanish and French.
She moved to Washington, DC in 1951 to work for the Institute of International Affairs. She then transferred to the US Agency for International Development when it was created in 1961. She coordinated a major emergency assistance effort in the Dominican Republic following the civil war there in 1965 as well as administrated the economic assistance program in Colombia in the early 70’s; one of the largest in the world at that time. Her final assignment there was as Deputy Director for South America.
She traveled the world making wonderful friends and treasured memories. After retiring in 1979, Miss Kranz played the piano and organ at several DC area churches and became involved with the cultural activities including being a founding member of the Institute of Learning in Retirement at American University. She served on the ILR Board of Directors for 14 years.
In 2000, Margo was one of the first residents to move into Ingleside at Rock Creek and was a resident there until March of 2016 when she moved to Bristol Glen in Newton, NJ to be closer to her family. She is survived by her sister-in-law, Claire Kranz of Hardyston, NJ; niece, Kathy Baumann and her husband, Stephen and her niece, Margaret C. Kranz, all of Vernon, NJ; as well as great-niece, Stepheni Baumann and her husband, Josep Maria Fortea Rochera of Valencia, Spain; great-nephew, Thomas Baumann and his wife, Jordan Gianforte of Rumney, NH and great-nephews, Steven Rosal and Christopher Rosal of Vernon, NJ.
Ruth Sorensen Singer September 28, 1931 – January 10, 2018
Ruth Sorensen Singer died on January 10th peacefully and with family nearby in northern Virginia. She is survived by by her husband Derek, her children Vicky, Alex, Ted, and Jason, and her grandchildren. Ruth donated her body to science.
Predeceased by her brothers Robert, Tom, Ted, and Phil, this Nebraska Sorensen sibling was the beloved, lone daughter of C.A. and Annis Chaikin Sorensen, and she leaves a legacy of commitment to progressive causes and friends around the world.
Ruth graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1952 and from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in 1955. She married Derek S. Singer, and the pair began a career in public service, including: Peace Corps assignments in Bolivia and Tunisia, public television administration in Chicago, and U.S. Agency for International Development postings in the Congo, Kenya, Ecuador, and Cameroon.
Wherever she was, Ruth was an active member of her community. Her legacy included participation in the civil rights movement, work with the Kennedy administration, involvement in the Unitarian Church, speech writing, teaching English, and lifelong membership in the Democratic Party. She worked with Senator Fritz Hollings to publish The Case Against Hunger, and was a Democratic delegate from Illinois for the 1976 Presidential election.
Francoise Brown, beloved wife of USAID (and predecessor agencies) alumnus Vincent W. Brown and mother of deceased USAID alumnus Christopher M. Brown passed away peacefully at the age of 89 on January 30, 2018 in Moraga, California. Francoise was a devoted USAID Foreign Service spouse who was a champion for USAID programs in the countries where her husband served (The Congo, Tunisia, Korea, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Cote d’Ivoire.) In Kabul, Afghanistan she was instrumental in supporting a women’s craft cooperative. In each post where she served she organized and contributed to the American International Women’s Group. (See Vince Brown’s oral history recounting the Browns’ lives of service at: http://adst.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Brown-Vincent-W.pdf.)
Francoise lived a remarkable and full life. She survived war-time hardship as a child in France, travelled across the globe, including across Afghanistan, Pakistan and the former Soviet Union, raised a beautiful family, and touched countless people who met her. Throughout her life, she was also a devoted Christian Scientist.
Following the end of the Browns’ formal Foreign Service career, Francoise and Vince returned to the US – living in Lexington, Massachusetts and later in Bethesda, Maryland. While in the DC area, Francoise volunteered full time at the Smithsonian Institution, where she put to use her valuable—and by that time, increasingly rare—training in bookbinding at the Smithsonian’s restoration department to preserve old books and artifacts in the museum’s collections. Francoise also volunteered at her local Christian Science Church, where she managed the Christian Science Reading Room. Francoise was also a dynamic, engaged, and deeply loving grandmother and aunt. She devoted extensive time to her five grandchildren and to her niece and nephew. She taught the children to sew, the art of French cooking, (like making the perfect omelet), and how to master American delicacies like chocolate chip cookies.
No challenge was too steep, no country too distant or too difficult for Francoise to support her extended family in a USAID post. It is safe to say that without Francoise and all of her gifts to her family, our lives would have been very different. Friends who would like to donate in honor of Francoise’s contributions to USAID can send donations to: The First Church of Christ Scientist, Office of the Treasurer, Memorial Fund, 210 Massachusetts Avenue, P02-02 Boston, Massachusetts 02115.*
Robert Kanchuger, age 87 of Potomac, MD, passed away peacefully on Saturday, February 3, 2018. Beloved husband of Margaret Cotter; loving father of Stuart (Arleen), Molly (Chuck) and Sarah (Eric); stepfather of David (Jennifer) and Ken (Ava); and dear Poppa to 14 grandchildren.
Bob was the only child born to Morris and Eva Kanchuger, who had emigrated to the U.S. as young children from Eastern Europe. He was raised in Brooklyn and the Bronx and attended college at Amherst. He graduated from Harvard Law School, then served in the U.S. Navy. He had a career at the U.S. Agency for International Development and the World Bank.
In retirement, Bob was a board member of Language Etc. (now the Washington English Center), an organization that provides English classes and other services to immigrants, and volunteered there as an English teacher. He served as a mediator through the DC courts, and mentored young people with challenges through a Montgomery County program. With friends, he established a bike riding group and a New Yorker review group, both of which continue.
John Tucker Craig, 91, passed on February 3, 2018 after a rich life and long battle with Alzheimer’s. A citizen of the world and patriarch of the Craig clan, John’s life spanned six continents, 70 countries, and his quintessential 58-year marriage to Ruth Weiler Craig-a “Global Love Story” as is inscribed on their headstone at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
Born June 17, 1926, in Brooklyn, New York, John grew up in Oberlin, Ohio, where he attended Oberlin College, did a stint in the Navy, and obtained his MPA from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School. In 1950, he married Ruth and whisked her off to Paris (much to the dismay of her father, who expected normal behavior like settling down next door), where he worked for the Marshall Plan and began a 60-year career with USAID and the State Department. Craig spent the early years of his public service helping to rebuild Europe after World War II, living six years in France, Austria (where Dan, Tom, and Andy were born), and Yugoslavia. John avoided easier jobs stateside and served most of his career as Program Officer or Deputy Director in hardship posts, opening USAID’s office in Cotonou, Dahomey, in 1961 and serving twenty more years in Somalia (where Paul was born in neighboring Kenya), Tunisia, Nepal, Haiti, and Guyana. After doing contract work for USAID in Rwanda and again in Haiti, Dad joined the State Department’s archive declassification program which kept him busy until his final retirement in 2010.
A resident of Washington DC for 58 years-where he loved his season tickets to the Arena Stage, Studio Theater, and Kennedy Center,Craig finally moved to Spring Arbor Residences in Fredericksburg late in 2015. John Craig leaves behind his four sons, Daniel, Thomas, Andrew, and Paul; 11 grandchildren Kersley, Simone Riggs, Miguel, Sara, Maya, Michael, Andrew, Jessica, Maxx, JAC, and Kenya; and five great-grandchildren Caleb, Kaylynn, Garret, Itzel, and Kadence; daughters-in-law Els Van Wingerden and Sarah Silver Craig; cousin Mary Harris; sister-in-law Sally (widow of brother Peter S. Craig); nephew Steve Craig and Sharon Kiddon; nieces Cary, Jenny, and Katie (married to Piers Bocock and mother of Miles, Leo, Toby, and Alex), and Mom’s beloved Weiler-Isaacs-Schafer-Cabral side of the family which spans Colorado, Alaska, and the United Arab Emirates.
Washington lawyer, John Tillotson Wainwright “Jack”, died February 2, 2018 at his home outside Lexington, VA after a long illness that robbed him of his ability to continue his work of fighting for freedom for political prisoners and third world countries. The illness did not rob him of his ability to read history, poetry, biography and he continued studying his bird books and listening to music. He remained an interesting and resourceful man.
Mr. Wainwright was educated at St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire; entered Princeton University in 1950; interrupted his studies at the time of the Korean War and joined the Army becoming a jumper and a Private First Class. He returned to Princeton, graduated with honors, received his law degree from the University of Virginia and began his work in Washington, DC working in the John and Robert Kennedy political campaigns. He was employed by the U.S. Agency for International Development before going into the private practice of law. In private practice he worked to obtain freedom for American prisoners held captive in Cuban prisons. One of the freed prisoners credited his freedom to Mr. Wainwright’s relentless efforts on his behalf. There were similar adventures throughout Mr. Wainwright’s career, most of them known only by those he helped.
Mr. Wainwright was born on July 10, 1931. His father for whom he was named drowned eight months before his son was born while attempting to save the lives of the Consul to the U.S. Consulate to Havana and his wife who had been swept off a rocky cliff by a rogue wave at Matanza Bay, Cuba in November of 1930. All three perished. Mr. Wainwright’s mother, Alice Gertrude Cutts Wainwright, returned to the U.S. and gave birth to their son in Newport, Rhode Island. Later she and her young son moved to Coconut Grove, Florida where Jack grew up.
He leaves his wife Catherine Peacock Wainwright “Kitty” and his sons Andrew Turner Wainwright and his wife Jackie and their two children, Scout and Augie, and his son Peter Jefferson Wainwright and his son Jacob Sinkler Wainwright.
