Marten van Heuven
(1932-2022)
Marten H.A. van Heuven, a retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer who specialized in transatlantic relations, died peacefully at home in Washington, DC, on the evening of December 25, 2022, after being able to celebrate Christmas with his family.
Born in Utrecht, the Netherlands, Mr. van Heuven came to the United States with his parents shortly after the end of World War II. He graduated from Yale College and Yale Law School, also earning a master’s degree in international affairs at Columbia University.
Throughout his State Department career, he and his wife Ruth enjoyed regularly spending time with family and friends in the Mad River Valley and at the house they built in 1972, just off the Moretown Common Road.
Marten loved his work on transatlantic relations and the pursuit of peace in Europe and enjoyed posts at U.S Embassies in Berlin, Brussels, Bonn, The Hague, and at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva. He continued his career on the National Intelligence Council, with RAND Corporation and as a board member on the Atlantic Council. He was awarded the Intelligence Medal of Merit from the Central Intelligence Agency for his work preparing the National Intelligence Estimate that anticipated the breakup of Yugoslavia. He also received the State Department’s John Jacob Rogers award.
To the relief of his family, Marten’s pastimes in Moretown did not involve any committee work. He enjoyed mowing, mending stone walls, keeping trees and trails in good health, entertaining, and riding horses, particularly as a member of the Sugarbush Polo Club and later, as a fox hunter and Field Master of the Green Mountain Hounds.
Mr. van Heuven is survived by his wife Ruth van Heuven of Washington, DC; by his two daughters, Piep and Katie, both of Denver, Colorado; their spouses, Tracy Davis and John Carney, both of Denver, Colorado; his granddaughter Madeleine Carney of Denver, Colorado; and his brother, Dr. Wichard van Heuven of Vero Beach, Florida, and Moretown, Vermont.
Donations in his memory can be made to either of two organizations that embrace his personal and professional passions:
Razom for Ukraine, Emergency Response (https://www.razomforukraine.org/razom-emergency-response/) which is providing direct humanitarian war relief and recovery aid to Ukraine
The Green Mountain Hounds (http://greenmountainhounds.com/2016/marten-van-heuven-1932-2022/
A commemorative service will be held at Christ Church, Georgetown, in Washington, DC, on Friday, February 10, 2023, at 2 p.m. In addition, the family will host a celebration of life in Moretown this summer.
