The New York Times, Saturday, April 15, 2006


Francis L. Kellogg, 89,
Diplomat and Prominent Socialite,
Is Dead


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Francis L. Kellogg
in 1993


By NADINE BROZAN

Francis L. Kellogg, a diplomat and prominent New York socialite who was a special assistant to two secretaries of state, William P. Rogers and Henry A. Kissinger, died on April 6 at his apartment in Manhattan. He was 89.

The cause was pneumonia, his son-in-law, Kirk Henckels, said.

Mr. Kellogg, who retained the title ambassador that he had acquired during his service with Mr. Rogers and Mr. Kissinger as special assistant for refugee and migration affairs, held posts in a number of organizations dedicated to aiding refugees, including the International Rescue Committee.

At one time he was chairman of the executive committee of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and was head of the United States Delegation to the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration in Geneva.

Known as a debonair man about town at the epicenter of New York City society, he was chief of protocol in New York for the United States Mission to the United Nations in 1976, the bicentennial year, during which he escorted more than 90 heads of state to New York or Washington. In the 1980's he was chief of protocol for Queen Sirikit of Thailand during her visits to this country, and founded the Thai Support Foundation.

He was a founding member and president of the Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation, established in 1977 to promote a balance between technological advancement and environmental protection. He was also president of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy and of the World Wildlife Fund.

In a résumé he put together himself, he listed, almost as an afterthought, "For a number of years, simultaneously with his other activities, Kellogg was on special assignment with the Central Intelligence Agency."

Both Mr. Kissinger and Mr. Henckels said they knew nothing about that service.

Francis L. Kellogg was born on Jan. 5 , 1917, at 118 East 70th Street, three blocks from the building where he died, 775 Park Avenue. His parents were Emily and Frank Leonard Kellogg. He graduated from the Choate School and Princeton University and served in the Army during World War II, assigned to the Office of Strategic Services.

In 1942 he married Fernanda Wanamaker Munn, a great-granddaughter of John Wanamaker, founder of the department store, and joined the staff, working until the New York branch closed in 1954. Then he became president and chief executive of National Department Stores and the International Mining Corporation.

The couple divorced in 1971. His second wife was Mercedes Tavacoli, from whom he was also divorced and who subsequently married Sid R. Bass, the oil and real estate tycoon.

He is survived by a daughter, Fernanda Kellogg Henckels of Manhattan; a son, Christopher Gage Kellogg of Palm Beach, Fla.; three grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren.

An avid sailor, Mr. Kellogg crewed in seven Newport-Bermuda races. He also owned Mill Pond Farm, in Bedford, N.Y., where he raised miniature Dexter cattle, aquatic birds and exotic chickens.

Describing Mr. Kellogg's social persona, Walter Curley, a former ambassador to France and Ireland, and a friend for more than 30 years, said: "He was no shrinking violet, nor was he pushy. He was just extremely sociable and generous, with extremely good taste in clothes, in art, ladies and his homes."

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company