Forsythe, Margaret G. (Margaret Grace), 1923-2009

Biography

Margaret Grace Forsythe was born March 8, 1923 in Vancouver, Washington, the only daughter of Bessie and Emmett Forsythe. During her childhood, the Forsythe family moved to Salem, Oregon where she attended North Salem High School and then Willamette University, graduating with the class of 1945. From 1947 to 1948, Forsythe and her mother relocated to Japan to live with Emmett Forsythe while he was stationed there with the American Red Cross. Forsythe and her mother worked teaching English to Japanese students, many of whom Margaret would visit and correspond with in the future. After returning to the United States, Forsythe attended graduate school at the University of Washington. There she studied Russian, Far East Politics, and Asian culture, receiving a Master of Arts degree. When she graduated, she was familiar with Japanese, Spanish, and Russian. In 1952, her father mentioned a man he met working at a military station. Describing him as “in the intelligence work," Emmett Forsythe said that the man had told him that the United States government was always looking for people with Margaret’s skills and had given Emmett an address so Margaret could apply. Forsythe had many preconceptions about working for the Central Intelligence Agency but ultimately applied. Forsythe began her service in June of 1953, working from Washington D.C. There she enjoyed the growing metropolitan culture, a sharp change of pace from the Pacific Northwest. From 1958 to 1960, she served her first overseas assignment stationed in La Paz, Bolivia. After serving for three years in Bolivia, Forsythe returned to Washington D.C. for a time and then accepted an assignment working for what she described as a "private research company" in Coral Gables, Florida. In 1965, she returned to Washington D.C. She was then assigned to Torrejón Air Base in Madrid for the US embassy in Spain from 1967 until November of 1968. Forsythe returned to Washington D.C. once again, but in 1970 she decided to take on her last foreign assignment, which was in Vietnam. She served as a member of the Foreign Service in South Vietnam until 1974. She lived in Saigon, working with US officials and native Vietnamese. During her time there, her parents Bessie and Emmett Forsythe passed away, in 1970 and 1972 respectively. Forsythe returned to Washington D.C. for the last four years of her government employment, retiring in 1978. Moving back to Salem, Forsythe pursued many of her long-time goals. She wrote two articles focusing on artwork from the Vietnamese Mien tribe for Arts of Asia magazine. She also achieved a long-time goal of teaching, becoming an assistant professor at Chemeketa Community College. Forsythe kept active in the local First Presbyterian Church and, through her church efforts, Forsythe helped support the members of the Mien tribe from Vietnam who had immigrated to the United States. Throughout the remainder of her life, she stayed engaged in the growing community of Mien living in the Salem-Portland area. Forsythe continued to travel, visiting Mexico and Asia in the last years of her life. Forsythe died in 2009 at the age of 86.

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