Lionel Landry

Lionel Landry, retired executive Director of Seminars at The Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, died on October 26, 2005 in Chestertown, MD with his family present. He was 86. He was born July 6, 1919 in Woonsocket, RI, son of the late Leo D. A. and Germaine Desrochers Landry. He was beloved by his wife, Ruth and their three children, Mrs. Lisa Anderson of Paauilo, HI, Mr. Peter Landry of Barto, PA and Mrs. Christine Thevenard of Paia, HI. He was predeceased by his brother, Robert W. Landry in 1986. He is survived by his sisters Mrs. Jacqueline Johns of Plantation, FL, and Mrs. Charlotte Lepoutre of Knoxville, TN, brother Paul R. Landry of Burlington, VT and grandchildren Lu Anderson and Lionel Landry. At the age of three he was stricken with poliomyelitis which left him with physical infirmities but a strong will to live and a love for music and languages. He graduated from Mount Saint Charles Academy, Woonsocket, RI in 1936 and earned his BA degree at Providence College, RI, in 1940. He received his Masters Degree in Romance Languages from Harvard University in 1941. He started his career at the Centro Colombia-Americano with the U.S. State Department in Bogotá, Columbia where he served from 1941 until 1945. He then was assistant Professor of Romance Languages at Georgetown University. His next assignment on entering the State Department was as Cultural Attaché to Burma where he met and married his wife of 50 years, Ruth Kin Maung of Rangoon, Burma. On his second tour there in 1953 he was Public Affairs Officer, United States Information Service. His next tour was Djakata, Indonesia where he served in the same position until 1958 when he left Government service. He was associated with the Foreign Policy Association from 1959 until 1962 when he joined the Asia Society In New York as Executive Vice President. He was instrumental in generating many cultural exchanges with Asian nations through his many contacts and personal friends in Asia and the U.S. State Department. He lectured, reviewed and wrote books about the nations where he had been stationed. In1983 he left the Asia Society to become the Executive Director of Tradition and Change as well as the Executive Seminars at the Aspen Institute in Wye Mills, MD until he retired in 1987. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 29 October at 11:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church High Street, Chestertown, MD. In his memory, contributions may be made to Habitat for Humanity, Katrina Relief Rebuild, 121 Habitat Street, Americus, GA 31709-3498. Arrangements by Fellows, Helfenbein and Newnam Funeral Home Chestertown, MD.