John A. Stempel

1935 - 2015

John A. Stempel died Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015, following a lengthy illness. Memorial service: 10 a.m. Friday at University Christian Church. Memorials: Gifts may be made to Dartmouth College, Development Office, Hanover, N.H. 03755; or the Granville and Erline Walker Ministerial Scholarship Foundation, 2720 S. University Drive, Fort Worth, Texas 76109. John, or "Jack" as he was known to family and friends, was born on Nov. 16, 1935, in Trenton, N.J., to Eleanor and Carl Stempel. The second of four siblings, he grew up in Bloomfield, N.J., and graduated from Bloomfield High School. He received an A.B. degree in English and economics from Dartmouth College in 1957 and an M.B.A. in management and economics from New York University in 1967. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1958-1964. His career in international marketing was first nurtured at age 15, when he attended the Boy Scout World Jamboree in Salzburg, Austria, as part of a delegation that included an extensive tour of Europe and North Africa. It was on this trip that John became a "citizen of the world." In scouting John achieved the rank of Eagle Scout and Order of the Arrow. At the time, he was one of the most decorated Scouts in his region. His experience in the scouting movement served as a lifelong model of discipline and achievement. John's career, first with several companies in the dental industry and later with Lockheed-Martin Aeronautical Division, took him to over 120 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South America, as well as Australia and New Zealand. His ability to relate to people across various cultural boundaries was a gift that brought friendships as well as business success. During his career he made his home in New Jersey, Illinois, California, Kansas and Texas. He retired in 2001. In the 1960s he served on the initial faculty of County College of Morris, N.J., as professor of marketing and management. Music was an important part of his life, both as participant and audience. In high school and college he played the tuba in the marching band. He also played the violin and double bass. While at Dartmouth College he led the Barbary Coast Orchestra, a 17-piece dance band that traveled in New England and Bermuda. While living in the Chicago area, he sang with the Elk Grove Festival Chorus. John's four years at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., left him with a lifelong passion for that institution. On the day he was born, his father attended the Dartmouth-Princeton football game. He was accepted to both schools, but chose Dartmouth. He attended every reunion, and since retirement, several mini-reunions. He was a founding member of the Fort Worth Dartmouth Club, a group that meets monthly and whose primary focus is recruiting and interviewing prospective students. John was an active member of University Christian Church, where he served as a deacon and was a longtime member of the Church and Arts Division. He particularly enjoyed serving on the Reel Religion Film Festival Committee. John's greatest accomplishments are the qualities he exhibited as a husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend. He was a kind, generous, supportive and courageous man, and he will be greatly missed. He was preceded in death by his parents, Carl A. Stempel and Eleanor Hanschka Stempel; his brothers, Robert Stempel and Ted Stempel; his sister-in-law, Joyce Stempel; and his grandson, William Walker Sisney. Survivors: His wife of 36 years, Judith W. Stempel; his daughters, Kimberley Stempel Kolb and her husband, Dan, of Grapevine, Jennifer Stempel Haut of Cleveland, Ohio, Melissa Stempel Mangen and her husband, Lyle, of Willmar, Minn., Mary Chowning of Corona del Mar, Calif., Anne Chowning Sisney of Chico, Calif., and Jennifer Chowning and her husband, Grant Ellis, of San Antonio; his grandchildren, Caitlin Kolb Howard and her husband, Tyler, Evan Kolb, Alex Kolb, Elizabeth Mangen, Alan Mangen, Mary Sisney, Annie Ellis and Lucy Ellis; great-granddaughter, Sailor Howard; his sister, Dorothy Stempel Grannell and her husband, Andrew, of Portland, Maine; sisters-in-law, Patricia Stempel of Loxahatchee, Fla., and Sara Walker Wilson of Fort Worth; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.