Mr. John M. Stauffer

Son… John was born on November 16,1943, to Dorothea Arbizzani and Claude Maxwell Stauffer in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Brother… He had wonderful twin sisters, Martha Stear and Sara Lyons Roskott. He was brother- in- law to Ted Loder and Wes Loder.

Education… John graduated high school from Perkiomen School in 1962 and attended Virginia Military Institute for two years. He transferred to and graduated from Moravian College with a BA in English. He went on to Syracuse University where he earned his PhD from the Journalism School in 1972 while working for Laubach Literacy.

Marriage… He married his high school sweetheart, Patricia Sue Loder Stauffer, in December of 1967. They shared 56 years of marriage and adventures!

Father and grandfather… He fathered a beautiful daughter, Ruth Sue Stauffer (now Ruth Peddicord) and was blessed with Derek Peddicord as a son- in- law in 2014. He was promoted to “Gramps” in July 2020 with the birth of his grandson Benjamin.

Work… John taught Mass Communications at Babson College in Massachusetts. He had the honor of presenting Communications research papers in Paris, Poland, Hawaii, and England, to name a few. He was a professor of Journalism at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, from 1977-1979 and at the University of Zululand, South Africa, in 1984.

Travel… He loved to travel. He and his wife traveled around the world evaluating literacy centers in Mexico, Colombia, Israel, Kenya, Calcutta, and Hong Kong in 1968. He had a love for Kenya and Tanzania and spent many summers visiting missionary friends Art and Mary Ellen Davis and others. He enjoyed taking his family on safari. He also traveled extensively in South Africa and Europe.

Hobbies… John enjoyed climbing mountains. He started with the White Mountains and went on to climb Mt Kilimanjaro two times, Mt Kenya, as well as the Matterhorn.

After relocating to the Bonita Springs area in 1989, he developed a fondness and skill for fishing both the backwater and the deep sea. John was a loyal member of the Bonita Bay Fishing Club. He planned whole club fishing trips to Panama, Costa Rica, Key West and Guatemala.

He also volunteered tutoring an adult literacy student. This student would end up teaching John how to play chess while John was busy teaching him English. John continued to play chess throughout his life until the end.

John… was a professor, writer, photographer, storyteller, climber, fisherman, advisor, chess player, planner, gift giver…husband, father and grandfather who proclaimed Christ some five weeks before he passed. He has left a huge hole in our hearts. He loved and