Obituaries

In Memoriam

Charlotte "Betty" Webb — Bletchley Park Code Breaker

Charlotte Webb, who as a young woman helped code breakers decipher enemy signals at Britain’s top-secret Bletchley Park, died on Monday. She was 101.

Gene Schaefer — AFIO Member and former U.S. Navy

Gene Richard Schaefer of Bradenton and formerly of Anna Maria Island died Sept. 6, 2024. He was born in Chicago, grew up in Springfield Ohio, graduated from Wittenberg University and served in the U.S. Navy as a naval lieutenant aviator.

James Blessing — Decorated Army Intel Officer and AFIO Member

James Donald Blessing, 82, of Atlanta, died Oct. 26, 2024, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Jim was born in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Bob Snow — Former Army Counterintelligence Corp Member and Secret Service Assistant Director

Retired Secret Service Assistant Director Robert 'Bob' Snow of Ashburn, Virginia, 93, passed away peacefully on March 22, 2025. Bob was born in Rochester, New York.

John Bestic — Former CIA Executive

John B. Bestic, Jr., a two-decade resident of Pawleys Island, South Carolina, died on March 23 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was a retired senior Central Intelligence Agency officer and a Vietnam veteran.

Lois Critchfied — Former CIA Officer, Author, and AFIO Member

Lois Critchfield of Williamsburg, VA died in late March 2025. She attended Miami Edison Highschool and Brenau College in Gainesville, GA, and she held BS and MA degrees in economics from the University of Florida.

Dick Carlson — Cold War VOA Director, U.S. Ambassador to the Seychelles

Dick Carlson, a former journalist who led the Voice of America under Republican administrations decades before the GOP was shaped by hard-right commentators — including his son Tucker Carlson — and President Donald Trump began a push to effectively silence the U.S.-funded broadcaster, died March 24 at his home in Boca Grande, Florida.

Mickey Kappes — Decorated CIA Senior Operations Officer and AFIO Member

George M. “Mickey” Kappes, 93, of Merritt Island, FL passed away on March 23, 2025.