Samuel Leonard Durkin Stanley

Samuel Leonard Durkin STANLEY Age 88, a resident of Seattle died at Virginia Mason Hospital on Saturday November 26, after a long illness. He lived an accomplished life as a distinguished anthropologist, a generous mentor, and a loving husband and father. Sam was born in Seattle to Mary and Samuel Stanley on February 21, 1923. His father Sam, and his Grandfather William were prospectors in the Klondike who struck gold, famously returning home to Seattle on the steamer Portland with riches from their mine. Sam grew up on Capitol Hill, and attended St. Joseph School and Seattle Preparatory Academy. He was a veteran, having enlisted in the United States Army at 17, served and been honorably discharged, only to be drafted back in to the Army after Pearl Harbor. He served in the Pacific theater and saw combat on multiple fronts including Iwo Jima and Okinawa. After the war he earned a BA in Philosophy and MA in Anthropology from the University of Washington. He was a proud member of the ATO fraternity and served as Vice President of the University of Washington's Student Government. Sam met and married Janet Job at the University of Washington, and they moved together to Illinois where Sam would receive a Doctorate in Anthropology from the University of Chicago. His doctoral thesis was on Native Americans, which would become his major academic interest. After post-doctoral work at the University of Illinois, and a two-year Ford Fellowship in Indonesia, he became a faculty member at California State College at Los Angeles in the Anthropology Department. After 6 years in Los Angeles he was invited by his friend and mentor, the late Sol Tax, to help create and direct the Center for the Study of Man at the Smithsonian Institution's Natural History Museum. At the Center he was involved in many activities including a role in the production of the seminal Handbook of North American Indians. He also played a critical role in establishing the National Festival of American Folklife, now known as the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Sam retired from the Smithsonian and returned to Seattle to be closer to his family, but remained highly active in anthropology, contributing to the Departments of Philosophy and Anthropology at UW, producing scholarly works, and being actively engaged with the American Association for Anthropology. His contributions to anthropology went beyond his scholarly output, and there are many anthropologists today who benefitted from his skilled and caring mentorship. Sam will be remembered as a loving and kind husband, father, grandfather and uncle and friend. Everyone who knew him will remember his easy laughter and the twinkle in his eye. He was a trusted advisor and counselor to many both professionally and personally. No one could make you feel more special, he was a great listener, always curious not judgmental and truly warm hearted. Sam was preceded in death by his sister, Mary Stanley McKnight, his brother, William Patrick Stanley, and his niece Paula McKnight Mick. Sam is survived by his wife of 59 years Janet Job Stanley, his children Samuel Stanley Jr. and wife Ellen Li of Old Field NY, daughter Ann Stanley and husband Byron Thomas of Austin, TX, daughter Sarah Stanley and husband Dale Rogerson of Seattle, Washington, his grandchildren, James Stanley, Susan Stanley, Katherine Stanley, Samuel Stanley III, William Thomas, Roy Thomas, Charlotte Rogerson, Audrey Rogerson, and Marcella Rogerson, and his dear nieces and nephews, James McKnight, Michael McKnight, Samuel McKnight, Mary D. McKnight Droke, Laura Stanley, Susan Stanley, and Patricia Stanley Smith. A memorial service will be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Seattle on Thursday, December 1 at 1:00 PM. In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to the University of Washington or the University of Chicago in his name. Please sign Sam's on-line Guest Book at www.Legacy.com. Hoffner Fisher & Harvey