The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2020 89 and her master’s degree in comparative literature from the University of Georgia. She met her husband, John Daniel Morris, when they were studying at Emory University. In 1969 they were married at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas. They spent two years at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi, and two years in Japan while Mr. Morris served in the U.S. Air Force. Ms. Morris spent 30 years as a U.S. Foreign Service spouse. Mr. Morris’ work with the State Department took the couple to Indonesia, England, Hungary, Taiwan and China. Friends say Ms. Morris’ friend- liness, her skill at hosting diplomatic func- tions and her foreign language skills did much to support her husband’s Foreign Service career. She also taught fifth grade and high school English and journalism at Taipei American School and worked at the Over- seas Briefing Center in Washington, D.C. Ms. Morris spent her retirement enjoy- ing her grandchildren, visiting friends, traveling, participating in book clubs and conducting volunteer research on William Faulkner. A wife, mother and grandmother, she leaves her husband, Dan; her daughter Rebecca Morris (and husband Robert Gross) and their son, Sam of Denton, Texas; and her daughter Cathy Roche (and husband Bjorn Roche) and their sons, Sebastian and Casey of New York, N.Y. She also leaves two brothers, Jon Nerenberg of Roseburg, Ore., and Law- rence Nerenberg of Papa’aloa, Hawaii. n Warren Carl Putnam , 93, a retired Foreign Service officer for USAID, passed away on July 21, 2019, of cardiac failure on his farm, Hawk’s Ridge, in West Virginia. Mr. Putnamwas born in Woodhaven, N.Y., on Dec. 24, 1925. He went to high school in Lambertville, N.J. At 17, he joined the Navy to become a pilot but was told there were enough pilots in the program. Instead, he was sent to Williams College in Massachusetts to become an officer. Impatient to join World War II, he decided to get himself expelled by break- ing windows. The Navy then sent him to submarine school in New London, Conn. Before deploying to the Pacific, he and a couple of other mates were selected to spend the rest of the war selling war bonds on the recently captured German subma- rine, the U-505. He received an honorable discharge from the Navy Submarine Service in 1946. Mr. Putnam’s memorabilia from his time on the U-505 were donated to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chi- cago, where the submarine is housed. Returning to civilian life, Mr. Putnam earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture and animal husbandry at Rutgers Univer- sity in 1950. Following graduation, he used his GI Bill benefits to attend the Sorbonne in Paris for a year and to travel extensively around Europe. In Europe, he observed the Marshall Plan in action, fueling his interest in international development. Mr. Putman served with USAID twice, from 1962 to 1965 (St. Lucia and South Korea) and from 1979 to 1986 (Soma- lia and Washington, D.C.). During his overseas career, he also worked for several USAID contractors. He took time off twice to run his own businesses, including Ramier Estate in St. Lucia where he raised tropical flowers, vegetables, tree crops, forage and sheep. He continued consulting after retire- ment. In 1995, he moved to a farm in rural West Virginia, where he bred and sold Boykin Spaniels. Mr. Putnamwas an avid hunter, deep sea fisherman, skier and sailor. Friends say he was a great storyteller. Some of his tales can be found in his self-published book, Put’s Tales. One of Mr. Putnam’s more memorable experiences was a 10-day trek on foot across northern Tanzania to help a Maasai pal move a herd of cattle. He traveled with only water, a local “thimbo” and a rifle. Mr. Putnam’s wife of 42 years, Patricia, who accompanied him on all his long- term assignments, died in 1994. Since 1995 he has been with Dorothy Carlson, who survives him. He is also survived by a son, Duncan (and his wife Jeanette Dickerson-Putman) of Keuka Park, N.Y.; two daughters, Diana, an FSO with USAID (and her husband AdamMesser) of Carlisle, Pa., and Alexandra of Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; three granddaughters, Kristen Corl, Bridget Laubacker and Clarissa Messer; and one great-granddaughter, Claire Corl. n Karin Sherwood (née Willa- mowski) , 67, a former Foreign Service National at the U.S. embassy in Bonn and the wife of retired FSO Harrison Sher- wood, died in Cambridge, England, on Oct. 21, 2019. Mrs. Sherwood was born in England to Gerhardt, from East Prussia, and Brigitte, from Silesia (both regions were lost to Ger- many at the conclusion of World War II). A prisoner of war, her father was allowed to stay in Britain where he was valued as a farmworker and mechanic. Her mother was recruited as a mother’s help by the British Red Cross, fromHanover, where her family had settled at the end of the war. She was employed in Kent when she married Gerhardt; Karin was their first- born of two daughters. The family moved to Basingstoke, Hampshire, in the mid-1950s, where Ms. Willamowski received her schooling, culminating in a certificate of business from the Basingstoke Technical College.