Stephen Belcher

  
STEPHEN BELCHER "Pat"  1916 - 2011  
Stephen P. Belcher Jr., better known as Pat Belcher, a retired Foreign Service officer, died peacefully in his sleep, at home, on May 26, 2011. He was born in 1916 in Maplewood, NJ. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1937, and worked on Wall Street until World War II, when he served in the Army in North Africa and Italy. After the war, he worked for the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. In 1947, he married Louise Daghlian Belcher. In 1948 he moved to the Civil Affairs Division of the Army as a film officer. He joined the United States Information Agency and went to Cairo as a film officer in 1952. Later postings included Lagos, Nigeria; Washington DC; Cotonou, Benin; Paris, France; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; before returning to Washington DC in 1970. After his retirement in 1972, he worked for a year at the Museum of African Art, and the Division of Performing Arts at the Smithsonian Institution. He also worked on contract for Arts America, the division of USIA responsible for sending American cultural groups overseas, and accompanied numerous tours abroad. During this time he escorted numerous groups, including the Pilobolus Dance Company, the Mingus Dynasty, the Red Clay Ramblers, Buck White and the Country Folks, and others. In retirement, he devoted himself to local politics and civic affairs. He served as a long-time treasurer of the Forest Hills Citizens Association, and was elected as the first Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for Ward 3. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Louise D. Belcher, and three sons, Steve, Tim and Chris, as well as two daughters-in-law, Deb Hutton and Takako Nagai, and two grandsons, Sam and Colin. A memorial will be held at a later date.