Douglas John Fontein, World Bank Attorney, 85

[DGH]

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Douglas John Fontein World Bank Attorney

Douglas John Fontein, 85, a retired World Bank attorney, died February
26 [2008] of complications of a stroke at his Arlington County
[Virginia] home.

Mr. Fontein was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and grew up in the
Hague [the Netherlands]. During World War II and the Nazi occupation
of Holland, he was active in the Dutch resistance, transporting false
identity papers and, with his family, hiding an infant Jewish girl in
their home. The girl later became a member of the Dutch parliament.

After the war, Mr. Fontein received a law degree from Leiden
University in the Netherlands. Although he spent most of his life
outside the Netherlands, he never relinquished his Dutch nationality.

In 1947, he emigrated to the United States to study at the Fletcher
School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. After receiving a
master's degree in 1948, he and his wife moved to the Washington area,
where he joined the World Bank as part of the first class of trainees
in 1949. He received a law degree from Georgetown University in 1950
after attending night school.

He was at the World Bank for 29 years, primarily in the Legal
Department. He also worked as a line officer covering Africa and
Southeast Asia.

He left the World Bank in 1978 to become head of the legal department
at the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg. He retired and returned
to the Washington area in 1981. In retirement, he worked as a
consultant on various World Bank projects and was active in the 1818 H
Society, an association for retired bank staff.

Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Hazel Fontein of Arlington;
three children, Carol Fontein of Arlington [Virginia], Douglas Fontein
Jr. of Tinmouth, Vermont, and Andrew Fontein of Brooklyn, New York;
and four grandchildren.

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Joe Holley

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/05/AR2008030503301_5.html

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