John Francis Stachura

John Francis Stachura, 82, of North Myrtle Beach, S.C., died Tuesday at McLeod Seacoast Hospital.

Born June 25, 1933, in Jermyn, he was one of five children born to the late Michael and Anna Stachura. After graduating from Jermyn High School and a short period of time working, he went on to attend East Stroudsburg State Teachers College. After graduating in 1958, John was hired to teach physical education and coach the football team at Donegal High School from 1958 to 1961.

Following the conclusion of the 1961 season at Donegal, John married Mary Ann of Ephrata. After two years getting his master's degree at Southern Illinois University, John became a teacher and football coach at Richfield Springs High School in New York, from 1963-66.

He was subsequently hired to teach and coach football at Towanda High School from 1966 to 1968, and then moved to coach the football team at Cumberland Valley High School in New Kingstown from 1968 to 1970. He went on to serve as head of the department of physical education at Cumberland Valley from 1970 to 1988.

John went on to a successful second career as an agent and project manager with the Jack Gaughen Real Estate firm in south central Pennsylvania until he retired in 1995. He and Mary Ann moved to Tidewater in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., in 1996.

In addition to enjoying and mentoring his seven outstanding grandchildren, John was an enthusiastic golfer, and he and Mary Ann traveled extensively throughout their 54 years together to Europe and the Caribbean. He was a passionate fan of Notre Dame, North Carolina and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

John was never more at home than he was teaching, whether it was in the classroom, on the athletic fields or even on a walk on the beach with his children and grandchildren. He was revered as a public speaker, whether to a crowd of hundreds of strangers or a room of a dozen friends and family. He once helped build his own home, loved to take care of his yard and could fix anything from a toy to a tractor.

Surviving are his wife, Mary Ann (née Chanton); his son, C. Michael Stachura and wife, Kathleen, and their children, Annie and Jack, all of Trumbull, Conn.; his daughter, Marielle Entwistle and husband, John, and their children, Mary Elizabeth, Hannah and Walter, all of Lafayette Hill; and his daughter, Jonelle Stachura Wallmeyer and husband, Henry, and their children, Mary Frances and Nicklaus, all of Alexandria, Va.; his sister, Eleanor Marion and husband, William; his sister, Annemarie Kitchura; and his brother, Henry and wife, Richelle; and many nieces and nephews.

He was also predeceased by his brother, Thomas.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at Our Lady Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Saturday, June 25, at 10:30 a.m. The Lee Funeral Home & Crematory of Little River/North Myrtle Beach is serving the family.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that a donation be made in his name to the Capital Campaign at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic High School in Myrtle Beach.