Marjorie Nicholls Killgore – Military-Diplomatic Spouse

Marjorie Nicholls Killgore, 77, former instructor in sociology at the University of Alabama and later a volunteer remedial reading teacher in Washington, DC public schools, died June 3 at Sibley Memorial Hospital in the U.S. national capital. She was the wife of Ambassador Andrew I. Killgore, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs for the past 15 years, and a retired U.S. career foreign service officer.

Mrs. Killgore, who held an M.A. in sociology from the University of Alabama and was the first woman member of the university’s sociology department faculty, left that position in 1948 when she married Mr. Killgore, who had been a Naval Officer in World War II.

Over the following 32 years she accompanied her husband on foreign service assignments in Frankfurt, London, Beirut, Jerusalem, Amman, Baghdad, Dhaka, Tehran, Bahrain, Wellington, and on three separate State Department assignments in Washington, DC. Their final overseas post was in Doha, where Mr. Killgore served as U.S. ambassador to the State of Qatar.

After Ambassador Killgore’s retirement from the foreign service, in addition to her work as a volunteer tutor two days a week in inner city schools, Mrs. Killgore was a volunteer with the Welcome to Washington organization, which assists diplomatic families arriving in the U.S. national capital. She also traveled frequently with her husband, who worked for two years as an international consultant before co-founding the American Educational Trust to promote mutual understanding between the United States and countries of the Middle East through publishing books and periodicals and acting as a national clearing house for books on the Middle East.

Mrs. Killgore died of complications of Lyme disease originally acquired during her residence in New Zealand.

She was born in Shawmut, Alabama, and took her B.A. as well as her M.A. at the University of Alabama. Her first husband, Captain Barry Nicholls, died in 1946 at Aberdeen, Maryland, while on active duty with the U.S. Army.

Survivors include twins from her first marriage, Elizabeth N. Krieger of Houston, TX, and Andrew N. Killgore of McLean, VA, two daughters from her second marriage, Dr. Jane G. Killgore of Bemidji, MN, and Roberta K. McInerney of Washington, DC, a brother, Ben Donald Davis of Valley, Alabama, and six grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 3 at Arlington National Cemetery with interment to follow. Rather than sending flowers, persons wishing to express sympathy may send contributions to the DACOR-Bacon House Foundation, 1801 F St. NW, Washington, DC 20006, or to the American Educational Trust Library Endowment, 1902 18th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard