Posted on 07/12/2019
MARION BERGESEN RIEDEL
(nee Marion Reid Schoenfeld)
Marion "Bobbie" Riedel passed away on July 5, 2019, after a brief illness at Rockledge Regional Memorial Hospital in Rockledge, Florida. She was 96 years old. Bobbie was born in Vienna, Austria in April 1923, where her father was posted with the U.S. Legation. As recounted in her self-published 2004 memoir entitled "My Life in Capitals," she lived with her parents and her siblings in Finland and the Dominican Republic. In June 1940, Bobbie enrolled at Smith College. She graduated in December 1943 in the Class of 1944, part of a war-time three-year program. She then worked with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) for a few months, but resigned to travel to Hungary, where her father was sent in May 1945 to reopen the Legation offices in Budapest. Later in the year, she returned to the U.S. and, eventually took a job as an intelligence analyst in the U.S Department of State. In early 1951, Bobbie married Alf Bergesen, a Naval Academy graduate and newly-minted Foreign Service Officer. They then embarked on a long diplomatic career with overseas postings including Rangoon, Vienna, Berlin, Phnom Penh and Bangkok, Lisbon, Saipan, Dacca, and Port-au-Prince. There were also three tours in Washington, DC, and one at the UN in New York City. After Alf's retirement in 1984, they lived in Bethesda, Maryland, until 1989 when they re-located to Indian River Colony Club in Viera, Florida. Alf passed away in 1995. In 1999, Bobbie married Bill Riedel, a retired Coast Guard Captain. They were married for 20 years, during which time they continued to live independently at IRCC while enjoying a variety of social events and many inland and oceanic cruises. Bobbie is survived by her husband, two children, Christopher Bergesen of Bethesda, Maryland, and Susan Bergesen of San Francisco, California, and one grandson, Curtis Bergesen of Denver, Colorado. Memorial services will be held at a later date.
Published in The Washington Post on July 12, 2019