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Obituary: Francis Trelease Underhill, Jr.
By The Editor
It may be that any man’s death diminishes each of us, as John Donne held in the seventeenth century. Certainly the recent passing after a brief illness of Frank Underhill lessens all who knew him or knew of him. We at American Diplomacy feel a special sense of this loss.
A career American diplomat, Ambassador Underhill graced the board of directors of American Diplomacy Publishers, our parent organization, for more than two years. In addition, he provided to the journal numerous reminiscences of diplomatic life and commentaries on current issues, all written in his distinctively graceful, often humorous style.
The Honorable Francis Trelease Underhill, Jr., born in New Jersey in 1921, earned degrees at Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He served overseas as an officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Entering the Foreign Service in 1947, he had assignments abroad in Portugal, Spain, Indonesia (twice – the second time, 1974-77, as U.S. envoy), Poland, Malaysia, the Philippines, and South Korea. All of these were in addition to the periodic Washington postings in the Department of State.
After more than three decades in the Foreign Service, Ambassador Underhill and his wife, Helen Savacoll (Savvy), retired to North Carolina. There he wrote and spoke widely on foreign policy questions, including, we are pleased to note, in the pages of American Diplomacy. He died in Flat Rock, North Carolina, on October 17, 1999. Frank Underhill will be greatly missed.
— The Editor