Marianne S. Fogelsanger

Marianne Strachan Fogelsanger, a business administrator, and later successful master chef died of a stroke in Denton, Maryland on Oct. 27, 2005. Mrs. Fogelsanger was born in Dundee, Scotland in 1923. In earlier years, she traveled extensively with her mother and father, he an officer with the Royal Air Forces. Overseas postings included Malaya, Singapore and India. Much of her time in India was on the Northwest Frontier (current day Pakistan and Kashmir). This time had a great effect on her upbringing and led to her great love of the region, and for collecting oriental antiques. She returned to England in 1939 prior to the beginning of the War. Shortly thereafter she was taken in by the National Draft and assigned to work in an airplane parts factory She took pride in the fact that the parts she was working on were going into both the Spitfire and Hurricane fighter aircraft that were the backbone of the RAF during the War. Toward the end of the War, she married a young West Point officer, Norman L. Williams (‘43), who had been wounded in the early days of the Normandy invasion. As such, she became one of the earliest war brides who were to immigrate to the United States. Mrs. Fogelsanger’s early career in the United States dealt primarily with community service groups. She worked with the Community Chest (now United Way), Washington Center for Metropolitan Studies, and the United Planning Organization as administrative manager. Between these assignments, she worked with an MIT-related Operations Evaluation Group (OEG) doing work for the US Navy and headquartered in the Pentagon. OEG was the predecessor of the current Center for Naval Analyses. In 1949 and later in 1956, she joined her husband on military assignments to Teheran, Iran. She spent a total of five years in Iran, working mostly with the U. S. Embassy on protocol and social matters. During that time she donated her entire salary to the children’s orphanages throughout the country. She assisted the Tolstoy Foundation in helping the children of Iran. During a lengthy separation, she worked very closely with her mentor and friend, Master Chef Max Hauri and his wife, while training at the famed Ecole de Haute Cuisine, in Geneva, Switz. Returning to the United States, her marriage to then Lt. Col. Williams ended in divorce. Her marriage to Donald K. Fogelsanger in 1963 started a partnership that would last until the end of her life. Between them they established the Anchorage House, a catering firm in Alexandria, Virginia. The business was cited in many local glossy publications, as well as a most favorable review in the New York Times as “their home is your castle”. The “Anchorage House” proved very successful, and a wonderful place where the rich and famous could hide from the prying eyes of a more public restaurant. The facility handled weddings, receptions, bar-mitzvahs, wakes, meetings, and private dinners. Anchorage House was a favorite of the Alexandria Businessmen’s Club. It was also the place where she created “Anchorage House Antiques” a business offering Oriental and European antiques, interior design assistance, and appraising. Leaving Alexandria in 1982, she became active with the St. Andrews Society of Eastern Shore, and later served as its President: a relationship that brought her in close contact with the St. Andrews Societies of Washington, D. C., and Baltimore, as well as Ellis MacDonald and the MacDonald Clan of Wilmington, DE. On the commercial side, Mrs. Fogelsanger, managed Canton Row Antiques, in St. Michaels, while continuing “Anchorage House Antiques” with up to five outlet mall shops, through 1999. On the social side, she became active with the Ladies Auxiliary of the Easton Memorial Hospital, amassing 1000 hours of volunteer effort. As a member of the Talbot Country Club, she became President of Ladies 18 Hole Golf Assn. She and Donald organized and ran the club’s annual “Tartan Classic” golf tournament - always a fun effort for her. She went on to become President of the Peninsula Ladies 18 Hole Golf Assn, for all the private golf clubs of Delmarva. After their move to Caroline County, in 2002, she became a member of the Caroline Country Club. At the time of her death, she was also a member of the Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, Amnesty International, The Ladies Auxiliary of the American Legion, Children’s National Medical Center, National Children’s Cancer Society, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, The Salvation Army, UNICEF, Wheel Chair Foundation, The Williston Community Church, and the Crystal Cathedral. Survivors, in addition to her husband, Donald of Denton, Maryland, include her brother, Alan Bow, Sr. of Arlington, Virginia; two nephews, Alan Bow, Jr. and Stewart Bow, both of Falls Church, Virginia; and a grand-niece, Hannah Fern Bow, of Placentia, California. A memorial service will be held at a later date. Arrangements are by Fellows, Helfenbein and Newnam Funeral Home, P. A. Easton, Md. .

Marianne S. Fogelsanger

October 27, 2005