DIANA HALSTED

HALSTED Diana Hopkins Halsted (Age 87) Daughter of Harry L. Hopkins. Diana Hopkins Halsted, a long-time national security expert for the U.S. Government, died of complications from pneumonia on August 26, 2020 at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax, VA. She was laid to rest next to her mother Barbara Duncan Hopkins at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Rock Creek Cemetery. A salute to her and celebration of her life will be held for friends and family at 6 p.m. Eastern on Friday, July 2, 2021 at the family homestead in Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Halsted was the daughter of Barbara Duncan and Harry L. Hopkins, FDR's federal relief administrator and head of the WPA, secretary of commerce, and envoy to Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin during World War II. He was a tireless advocate for the unemployed during the Great Depression and his efforts at the wartime conferences with President Roosevelt helped to bring an end to World War II and to the defeat of fascism. In 1976, Mrs. Halsted married the late Dr. James A. Halsted, a nutrition researcher, of Hillsdale, New York. She was first married to the late Allin P. Baxter, who was also a national security expert for the U.S. Govern ment and an attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mrs. Halsted attended the Madeira School in Great Falls, Virginia, studied at Brillantmont International School in Lausanne, Switzerland, did her undergraduate studies at Bryn Mawr College, and received a master's degree in foreign languages from Georgetown University. Born in New York City in 1932, Mrs. Halsted lived in the White House's Lincoln Suite for three-and-a-half years as a young child with her father, Harry L. Hopkins, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and their cherished dog Fala. While living at the White House, she planted a Victory Garden on the south lawn of the White House with Mrs. Roosevelt, met informally with the Queen of England, spent Christmas with the Roosevelts and Prime Minister Winston Churchill, was a regular participant at the White House annual Easter Egg Roll, and attended the 1940 Democratic National Convention in Chicago with her father. After her father's death, Diana Hopkins was raised by her step-mother Louise Macy Hopkins Gates and her step-father Geoffrey McNair Gates. Mrs. Gates once worked as the Paris-based fashion editor for Harper's Bazaar magazine. A recipient of many commendations for her national security work, Mrs. Halsted was a multi-linguist who worked for more than three decades on some of the most sensitive national security issues around the globe. Passionately dedicated to the education and empowerment of young women, Mrs. Halsted was a former Trustee of the Madeira School, and also served as the school's Director of Development in the mid-1970s. Diana Hopkins Halsted was the adored mother of Audrey Baxter Young and David Hopkins Baxter, mother-in-law of David John Young and Tammy Lynn Baxter, and the loving grandmother of Stephen Hopkins Baxter, Gates Hopkins Young, Katie Suzanne Baxter, Brooks Baxter Young, and Macy McNair Young. Diana was also a devoted aunt to her nine nieces and nephews living in the U.S., Germany, and Australia. She was an avid gardener, poodle lover, and an excellent "flambé-r' of plum pudding on Christmas. Diana Hopkins Halsted was the adored mother of Audrey Baxter Young and David Hopkins Baxter, mother-in-law of David John Young and Tammy Lynn Baxter, and the loving grandmother of Stephen Hopkins Baxter, Gates Hopkins Young, Katie Suzanne Baxter, Brooks Baxter Young, and Macy McNair Young. Diana was also a devoted aunt to her nine nieces and nephews living in the U.S., Germany, and Australia. She was an avid gardener, poodle lover, and an excellent "flambé-r' of plum pudding on Christmas.