Obituaries
Friday, May 4, 2007; Page B09
Thomas P. ShoesmithAmbassador
Thomas P. Shoesmith, 85, who held many diplomatic posts in Asia with the State Department and was a former ambassador to Malaysia, died April 26 of cancer at his home in Springfield.
Mr. Shoesmith was born in Palmerton, Pa., and enlisted in Army after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1943. After intensive Japanese language training at Yale University and the University of Michigan, he served as a military intelligence analyst with the Army in Tokyo from 1946 to 1948.
He received a master's degree in international studies from Harvard University in 1949, then did two additional years of graduate study in political science at Harvard.
Mr. Shoesmith joined the State Department in 1951 as a research analyst of Japanese political affairs and entered the Foreign Service in 1955. His first overseas assignment was in Hong Kong as a consular officer.
From 1958 to 1960, he was a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. After additional study of Japanese, Mr. Shoesmith served as a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo and later held a diplomatic post at the U.S. consulate in Fukuoka, Japan.
After returning to Washington in 1966, Mr. Shoesmith served with the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs. From 1972 to 1977, he was deputy chief of mission in Tokyo, followed by four years as consul general in Hong Kong. He then returned to the East Asia bureau as principal deputy assistant secretary, with responsibility for Japan, Korea and China.
In 1983, Mr. Shoesmith was appointed ambassador to Malaysia, where he served until his retirement in 1987.
In retirement, he was active in the Japan-America Society of Washington and served as the group's president. He was also president of the National Association of Japan-America Societies.
He died two days before his 62nd wedding anniversary.
Survivors include his wife, Martha H. "Mike" Shoesmith of Springfield; two children, Thomas Mark Shoesmith of Shanghai and Jo Shoesmith of Harpers Ferry, W.Va.; a sister; and two grandchildren.
Elizabeth J. HarperState Department Officer
Elizabeth J. Harper, 86, a State Department employee who retired in 1980 as deputy assistant secretary for visa services, died April 22 at her home in Dumfries. She had cancer.
Early on, Miss Harper had assignments in Asia. From 1973 to 1979, she was consul general in Montreal.
