Lois Virginia Stanton

Having spent her life working overseas and at home assisting those in need, Quaker trailblazer Lois Virginia Stanton (née Plumb) died on July 26, weeks before her 94th birthday. Reflecting in her final years she often said, "I was fortunate in birth [1922 in New Canaan, Connecticut], education, and family."

After graduating from Wilson College in 1943 with a B.A. in foreign language (she ultimately spoke five), Lois was so affected by the war that she sought a master's degree in Relief and Rehabilitation from Haverford College, becoming one of that school's first female students. She then traveled to France and Germany with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) to help rebuild towns and lives one community center at a time.

There she met William Macy Stanton, Jr.-a conscientious objector and participant in the famed Minnesota starvation experiment, also working with the AFSC-when he requested one of the many large trucks that fell within her purview. She was wed in Germany with no family in attendance, but wearing a silk dress shipped by her mother.

Upon returning to the U.S., Lois lived on several college campuses where her husband served as an administrator, ultimately settling in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania in 1957. While raising children, she continued her aid-based interests, working part-time and as a volunteer with no fewer than 13 organizations, including the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. In 1966 she began a 25-year career with the Department of Public Assistance for Delaware County, fighting against stigmatization of welfare recipients.

Lois and her family were active members of Middletown Monthly Meeting and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, participating in family camps, civil rights demonstrations, and vigils for peace. Their hospitality-hosting foreign students and international social workers-led to many reciprocal invitations, including an audience before the Samoan royal family.

After retiring, Lois self-published three accounts of their remarkable story: "Tales of a Haverford R&R Girl," "The Courtship of Two Quaker Relief Workers in Europe 1946-1947," and "William Macy Stanton Jr. 1919-1995."

As clever and brave in her social life as her professional one, she often found herself the center of parties, the perpetrator of pranks, and the star of Christmas pageants. In her later years Lois enjoyed what she called "my second childhood," feistily challenging her grandchildren to games of pool and shouting out the answers to game show questions.

Predeceased by son Jay and husband Bill, she leaves a legacy of social responsibility to daughter Linda Stanton Lange of Portola Valley, California; son William Macy Stanton III of East Lansdowne, Pennsylvania; seven grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and her beloved caregiver Louise Julason of Linwood, Pennsylvania.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, September 17 at 2:00 p.m. at Middletown Monthly Meeting in Lima, Pennsylvania. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to: The Stanton Family Scholarship Fund at Haverford College (370 Lancaster Ave., Haverford, PA 19041) or to AFSC Development (1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102).