LTJG, US Navy, William Joseph Kushlis 

For my beloved husband. William Joseph Kushlis was born on May 21st, 1942, in Washington, DC. He graduated from Boston College in 1964 and received a master’s degree in government from Cornell University in 1967. Kushlis joined the Foreign Service in 1970 and spent about 15 years overseas, with assignments in Switzerland, the Soviet Union, Finland, Greece, Thailand, and the Philippines. He was a political officer with expertise in Soviet and Greek issues. In one of his final assignments, from 1994 to 1996, he was attached to the secretary of Defense’s office as a senior foreign policy adviser on Russia and Belarus. 

After retiring from the Foreign Service in 1997, Kushlis moved to Albuquerque, NM, where he worked as a broker and investment adviser until 2006. He was also a member of DACOR, an association of retired diplomatic officials, and was active in the Gonzaga alumni group. William Joseph Kushlis passed away from leukemia on April 6th, 2021, at the age of 69. Kushlis was survived by his wife of 41 years, Patricia Hogin Kushlis and his son, Christopher J. Kushlis.