Evening star., 1947-10-26
New Visa Chief Is Tradition Wrecker
L'Heureux and FomiI,
Set New STANDARD
at MorseiIIe
By Gurnett D. Horner

diplomats are white-spatted cookie
pushers with Harvard accents, one
of his exhibits should be his new
Visa Division chief.
This antithesis Of the hoary carl
cature Of a diplomat is Herve J..
L 'Heureux, who has come up
through the ranks from . clerks
job in the American Foreign Serv-
ice and has just been called back to
Washington for the tough Visa
Division assignment after spending
three years as Consul General at
Marseille, France. .,
His Humor Cracks Ice
Mr.. L'Heureux typifies down-to-
earth Americanism.
He looks more like small-town
doctor from the Midwest than the
movie version of a diplomat.
He exudes the friendly good ma
ture that goes with his name of
French Canadian origin -"LHeu-
reux" is the French equivalent of
1.-The happy one
No scion OF wealthy aristocracy,
he worked his way through college,
part of the time as an elevator
operator at the Capitol.
He has learned to practice the
niceties of protocol when neces-
sary, but won't let conventionalities
interfere with q robust sense of
humor, cracking any icy atmosphere
he might encounter.
When at foreign post, he doesn't
limit his representation of America
to formal exchanges with the upper
crust. He makes it his job to know
all classes of people, increasing two
way understanding on the broadest
possible base.
Because he wouldn't attend with
out his wife some affairs that CEN
turies of tradition had limited to
men only, the women Of Marseille
now go to more party breakfasts and
banquets with their husbands than
ever before.
Family Diplomacy Scores
The whole L'Heureux family joined
in representing real Americanism in
Marseille. Son George. Is, intro
duced baseball and basket ball into
Marseille schools. Mrs. LHeureux,
begging abandoned equipment from
American Army units as they moved
out of Marseille, established home
for wayward girls. George, his 49,
year-old brother David and IT.
year-old sister Jeanne Rose brought
their school friends home to show
ings of American movies once a
week.
This sort of diplomacy made a hit
with the people of Marseille. They
showed their appreciation in an I'M
usual tribute when time came for
the L'Heureux family to leave for
Washington last July.
The Marseille Chamber of Com
merce, which plays an even more
significant role in city affairs than
do similar bodies in this country,
presented Mr.. L'Heureux with a
medal symbolizing honorary men,
bership. The presentation was made
at reception given in honor of the
L'Heureux family.
Other Precedents Set
Such action might not sound un-
usual to one familiar only with
American ways, but 1t was prece-
dent-shattering for Marseille. The
Chamber of Commerce there has
proud history dating back to 1893.
In days gone by 1t was the city's
actual governing body-equivalent
to a city commission or board of
aldermen. 1t had presented medals
before to a few foreign dignitaries,
but never before had it honored a
woman. Normally, women were not
even invited to receptions it might
give. So it was quite a tribute for
this body to honor Mrs. L'Heureux
and the children along with the de-
parting Consul General When Mrs.
L'Heureux wrote her name in the
organizations gold book" friends
looked back over pages covering
similar affairs for 200 years and no
other woman's name did they see.
Mr.. L'Heureux's firm convictions
about one-for-all and all-for-one
family action and got Marseille
used to breaking precedents by
them. The first one was shattered
in connection with a religious OBJ
servance.
When the black plague was raw
aging Marseille in a past century
Catholic bishop dedicated the
n