Dorothy Q. Tirrell Clagett, Ambassadorial Aide, 90

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Dorothy Quincy Tirrell Clagett, who assisted diplomats as an aide at
the State Department, died January 30, 2005, at Collington Episcopal
Life Care Community in Mitchellville, Virginia, where she had resided
since 2003, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, at the age of 90.

Mrs. Clagett, a Washington DC native, was the granddaughter of a
congressman from Massachusetts, Charles Quincy Tirrell, and graduated
from the Potomac School and National Cathedral School. She also
attended the Ogontz School for Girls in Abington, Pa., and the Seagle
Colony, a music school in Schroon Lake, New York. Mrs. Clagett was a
skilled singer and pianist.

After volunteering for the Red Cross, Mrs. Clagett took a position as a
secretary with the State Department near the end of World War II.
Because of her knowledge of diplomacy and Washington, she quickly
advanced to the position of ambassadorial aide.

She kept large scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, which enabled her to
provide services and information to U.S. and international diplomatic
offices and to respond to questions from the media. A State Department
newsletter once described her as "Encyclopedia Tirrell."

She worked at the State Department until the mid-1950s, resigning to
care for her aging mother.

Mrs. Clagett was a member of the Sulgrave Club, the Chevy Chase Club,
the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Colonial Dames of America
and the English-Speaking Union. An endowment at the College of William
and Mary to benefit students studying in Washington bears her name.

She often attended musical events throughout the city. She supported
various endeavors at American University, Gallaudet University,
Washington National Cathedral and Christ Church in Georgetown. She
lived for 76 years in a house on Wyoming Avenue in the District that
was previously the home of Warren G. Harding, immediately before he
became president in 1921.

Mrs. Clagett donated many antique pieces of furniture and decorative
art to the State Department, museums and libraries.

Survivors include her husband of 32 years, Page Bowie Clagett of
Mitchellville.

Washington Post

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