John Peters Stevens III

John Peters Stevens III died Friday, April 26, 2019 in Gloucester, Mass., of natural causes following complications from hip replacement surgery. He was 92.

Born and raised in Plainfield, N.J., he attended Wardlaw School and Phillips Academy (Andover '44) before enlisting in the U.S. Army. After the war he went on to college at Yale, graduating in 1951, and then began work in New York City at family textile firm J. P. Stevens & Co. After 15 years, he left to pursue the work in philanthropic fundraising that would hold his passion for the rest of his career, most notably for the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, and for the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia.

In 1953 Pete married Christina Schmidt, with whom he had five children in Metuchen, N.J. and Rydal, Pa. After a divorce he met and married Margaret McHolme and had two more sons in Wrightstown, Pa. and Langhorne, Pa. After Margaret's death he moved to Beverly, Mass. to live closer to family. 

He is survived by his seven children: Mary Comfort Stevens (Roy Gottfried), John Peters Stevens IV (Brisa), William Nathaniel Stevens (Sara Collins), Kate Hastings Stevens (John Theriault), Helen Ames Stevens (Semih Bulbul), Ian Caird Stevens (Maren), and Duncan Norman Stevens (Rebekah Bundang). He was very proud of his grandchildren: Oliver Gottfried (Alanna, and children Lucas and Molly), Edward Gottfried (Kaye Verville), Henry Gottfried, Frida Anderson and son Ethan, Noah Stevens, Kyle (Theriault) Elliott (Kevan), Allison Theriault (Paige Leishman), Kaya Bulbul, Sera Bulbul, Aidan Stevens, Colin Stevens, Margaret Stevens and Simon Stevens.

Pete was a longtime church activist; he supported broader roles for women in the Episcopal Church and attended the groundbreaking and controversial ordination of 11 women to the priesthood at Philadelphia's Church of the Advocate in 1974. His volunteer commitments included a fundraising initiative at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia; Welcoming the Stranger, a Bucks County-based group providing free services to immigrants; the Lower Bucks Center for Church and Community; Interfaith Housing; and the Peace Center of Bucks County. His most recent fundraising efforts at age 90 were in support of Chorus North Shore in Ipswich, Mass.

Pete believed in showing up, and attended every possible performance by any of his children or grandchildren. He taught his kids to drive a stick-shift, mostly several years before the legal age. He had an astounding sense of direction and gave driving instructions with every turn and landmark included. He valued fitness, even had a personal trainer his last eight years, swam in the sea every summer, and did 25 laps weekly in the pool at the YMCA until early this year. He read two newspapers a day -- the Globe for the Patriots and Sox news, and the New York Times for world news.  He loved singing, and in recent years he sang with the George School Chorus in Newtown, Pa., and with Chorus North Shore. Earlier in life, he toured the Pacific and the U.S. with the International Male Chorus of the Armed Forces at the end of World War II; he also sang in the Yale Glee Club and the Robert Shaw Chorale. He loved Cape Ann, genealogy, board and card games, and ice cream.

There will be a memorial service and interment of ashes at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 26, at St. James Episcopal Church, Langhorne, Pa., and another memorial service at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 30, at Ascension Memorial Church, Ipswich, Mass. All are welcome; singing is promised.

In lieu of flowers, we encourage you to honor Pete's passion for philanthropy with a contribution to one of his most cherished organizations: Welcoming the Stranger, P.O. Box 1156, Langhorne, PA 19047, or Chorus North Shore's Sonja Dahlgren Pryor Conductor's Chair Endowment Fund, P.O. Box 2454, South Hamilton, MA 01982.