Ambassador Roger Kirk

1930 - 2023

KIRK

AMBASSADOR ROGER KIRK

Ambassador Roger Kirk, who served in the State Department from the Eisenhower administration at the beginning of the Cold War through the fall of the Berlin Wall, died January 18, 2023 at Sibley Hospital in Washington, DC. The family says the cause of death was pneumonia. He was 92.



He was a three-time United States Ambassador and an expert on Soviet affairs and negotiations on nuclear nonproliferation. He was the son of Admiral Alan G. Kirk, who commanded Allied Naval Forces at the invasion of Normandy during World War II in 1944.



"Roger Kirk was the kind of diplomat that many of us who have come after have sought to emulate," said U.S. Special Envoy to Yemen and family friend Timothy Lenderking, adding, "…he served in the most interesting places at captivating times and did it all with grace. Roger Kirk was kind and humble and wrestled with the most important issues of our time, not for personal glory but to advance American interests and values at tumultuous times of history. He demonstrated why this profession can be so rewarding when we embrace the challenges involved."



Roger Kirk was born November 2, 1930 in Newport, Rhode Island. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from Princeton University in 1952. He served in the United States Air Force from 1952 to 1955. He was fluent in Russian, Italian and French. His first job was as a translator at the American Embassy in Moscow when Josef Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union and Harry Truman was the U.S. President. His Foreign Service career began in 1955. He was posted in Washington DC, Germany, Moscow, New Delhi and Saigon. In 1972 Roger was assigned to the detail of U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency as Deputy Assistant Director for International Relations during the SALT Treaty negotiations. He was appointed Ambassador to Somalia in 1973. From 1978 to 1983, he worked as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations systems organizations in Vienna. Serving at the rank of Ambassador, he led the US delegation on nuclear non-proliferation negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Roger finished his career as the United States Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Romania. Just after he was succeeded in that post in 1989, the Romanian Dictator Nicolae Ceausecu was swept from power as the Soviet Union crumbled with the fall of the Berlin Wall.



Career Foreign Service Officer Ambassador Teresita Schaeffer, a longtime family friend whose late husband Howie worked with Roger Kirk in New Delhi said, "In a service that tends to be geographically stovepiped, Roger Kirk's career spanned an amazing array of countries and subjects, from Somalia - then as now a tough post - to Romania, with assignments touching most of the important issues in U.S. foreign policy. Roger was truly a lovely guywith an elegant sense of humor."



In his retirement, Roger continued an active role in United States foreign policy studies. He was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and a lifetime member of the Board of Directors at the Atlantic Council. He was also the Chairman of the Board of the Washington International School from 1985 to 2000. Roger was an avid squash player who played into his eighties. He and his wife Betty continued their love of international travel in the past two decades, adding time for guest lectures on Russian studies and international relations at cruise ship stops around the world.



Roger is survived by his wife of 68 years, Madeleine "Betty" Yaw Kirk, and four children, Marian, Sarah, Juli and Alan and also by his sister, Deborah Solbert (age 100), of Cold Spring Harbor, L.I. He delighted in spending summer vacations at Rehoboth Beach, DE with his family, including 13 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. Until the very end he enjoyed good company, food and wine and was quick to share his wit with a familiar twinkle in his eye.



A memorial service will be held at St. Albans Episcopal Church on Saturday, February 11, at 10 am.