Thomas Clinton Niblock

THOMAS CLINTON NIBLOCK

Of Adamstown, MD., died at his home on Friday, December 17, 2004 at age 79. He was born on February 9, 1925 in Concord, NC, a son of Franklin Chalmers Niblock and Zeta Caldwell Niblock. A graduate of Davidson College and Columbia University, he served in the Army during both World War II and the Korean War. Following the Korean War he worked for the Civil Assistance Command Korea as a liaison to the Korean National Assembly and later joined the United Nations Korean Reconstruction Agency. In 1955 he began work for the United States Foreign Assistance Program. While in Korea, he met and married Ann Faucette of Bristol, TN on December 26, 1955.

He next served as program officer for USAID in Kabul, Afghanistan, after which he went to Washington, D.C. as Director of the Office of Lao and Cambodian Affairs. In 1965 he was assigned to the White House as principal assistant to Eugene Black, President Lyndon Johnson's advisor on economic and social development programs in Southeast Asia. In 1969 he was named USAID Mission Director in the Philippines, where he served for six years and subsequently as Mission Director fo USAID in Indonesia until his retirement in 1981.

He later became a consultant to the National Rural Electrification Association, and then joined WINROCK International as manager of a forestry research project covering ten countries in Asia. In retirement he continued his interest in forestry by planting thousands of trees on his farm, All Seasons, in Adamstown. During this time he was the first president of Habitat for Humanity of Frederick County. In acknowledgement of his community service to Habitat and other organizations, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of humanities by Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, MD.

A lifetime member of the Presbyterian Church, he served as deacon, elder and teacher. He was an avid reader of history and literature and was a genial host, opening his home, wherever he lived, to countless friends and colleagues.

He is survived by his wife, Ann, to whom he was married 49 years; his son, Tom Jr. and wife Angie of Port Morseby, Papua New Guinea; his son, John and partner Jim Burke of Washington, D.C.; daughter, Sarah and husband Bruce Large of Waynesville, MO; grandchildren Bruce and James Large of Waynesville and Vicki and Tom III and their mother Sue Butler Niblock of Brussels, Belgium. He is also survived by sisters Ellen and Mary Niblock, twin brother Dr. Franklin Niblock of Concord, NC and sister Margaret Harkins of Oklahoma City, OK.

A memorial service for family will be held on Tuesday, December 21, at 11 a.m. at the Presbyterian Church, 17800 Elgin Rd., Poolesville, MD. Following the service, at 1 p.m., the family invites friends to gather at All Seasons Farm, 7130 Ira Sears Road, Adamstown, to join in remembrance and celebration of Toms's life.

Arrangements by ROBERT E. DAILEY & SON FUNERAL HOMES, P.A., Frederick, MD.