Marjorie Harkins Buchanan Kiewit obituary

Marjorie Harkins Buchanan Kiewit Obituary

Boston, Wisconsin, United States

May 28, 1921 - November 12, 2016

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Marjorie Harkins Buchanan Kiewit obituary

Marjorie Harkins Buchanan Kiewit Obituary

May 28, 1921 - Nov 12, 2016

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Kiewit, Marjorie Harkins BuchananMarjorie Harkins Buchanan Kiewit passed away peacefully at her home in Boston, Massachusetts on November 12, 2016. She was born on May 28, 1921, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Kellogg and Laura (Dopke) Harkins. She graduated summa cum laude from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin in 1943. Immediately following graduation, she married James Buchanan, and they resided in Neenah, Wisconsin, with their four children, Barbara, Nancy, Linda, and John. She served as President of the Neenah School Board, on the Governor's Commission in Education, as first woman President of the Board of Trustees of Lawrence University, and on the United Presbyterian Church Foundation. Following the death of Mr. Buchanan in 1964, Dr. Kiewit attended the University of Chicago, where she received her Ph.D. in Higher Education in 1977. Upon graduation, she worked for the Dallas Independent School District as Senior Analyst for the Spencer Foundation's "Study of Instruction" in the Dallas Schools. She married Peter Kiewit of Omaha, Nebraska, in 1978. Following Mr. Kiewit's death in 1979, Dr. Kiewit served as a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Peter Kiewit Foundation. She worked at Stanford University for almost two decades as a Research Fellow at the Center for the Northeast Asia - United States Forum on International Policy and then the Center for International Security and Cooperation, also serving as a member of Stanford's Board of Visitors for the Institute of International Studies. She served on the Peter Kiewit Foundation Board for fifteen years, including a term as Board President, and maintained her association with Stanford for over three decades until her death, during which time she traveled with high-level delegations to China, Russia, and North and South Korea and cultivated close relationships with Chinese educators and senior policy makers to share ideas and proposals in the field of educational and foreign policy. She is remembered at Stanford for her extraordinary dedication and lasting contributions to international understanding and peace. She was founder and served as longtime chairperson of the Helios Foundation, which supports charitable institutions throughout the world and promotes philanthropy for future generations. She spent the last twenty years living in Boston to be near family, which was always a priority in her life. She had a keen intellect, a sense of adventure, and was kind and generous to everyone she met. One Stanford colleague described "her intuitively correct understanding of the world events and world leaders, and her very extraordinary human talent of seeing the essence of any person she was communicating with...". Another wrote that "she was engaged, intelligent, and relevant to how we faced extraordinary challenges and opportunities with the Chinese, North Koreans, and Russians. She brought light and joy into all of our work."Dr. Kiewit was preceded in death by her husbands, parents, her two brothers, John and William Harkins; and her daughter, Linda Jacob. She is survived by her sister, Barbara Belle of Belleville, Wisconsin; her daughters Barbara (Jack) Aalfs of Sioux City, Iowa and Nancy (Tom) McLoughlin of Mystic, Connecticut; her son John (Lynne) Buchanan of Appleton, Wisconsin; her son-in-law Jonah Jacob of Boston; and seven grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, three step-grandchildren, and many loving nieces, nephews, and special longtime friends. The family is grateful to her aides for their excellent care that allowed her to remain in her home.A celebration of life will be held next summer in Appleton, Wisconsin. Donations in her memory may be made to the Marjorie Buchanan Kiewit Scholarship Fund at Lawrence University. (Development Office, Lawrence University, 711 E Boldt Way, Appleton, WI 54911)
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