Obituary: John Stauffer

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John Eugene Stauffer passed away at his home on July 23 at the age of 85. The cause of death was glioblastoma brain cancer. He was a resident of Greenwich, CT and Nantucket, Mass.

He was born on Sept. 16, 1932 in Bronxville, N.Y. to Virginia Deimel and Hans Stauffer. He attended Riverdale Country Day School and graduated from Deerfield Academy and Princeton University in the class of 1954. He received his M.A. in chemical engineering from M.I.T and a Ph.D. from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the first doctorate awarded by the university in the field of chemical engineering.

He is survived by Valerie, his wife of 62 years, and by four children, Jill Stauffer Cobbs (James), Karen Stauffer Murphy (Thomas, Jr.), John Christian Stauffer, and Peter Eugene Stauffer (Elizabeth). He was Daddy Jack to his eight grandchildren: Lucy Vilas Cobbs, Henry Lewis Cobbs, Caitlin Brown Murphy, Grace Sawyer Murphy, Virginia Louise Murphy, Daniel Learn Stauffer, Thomas Christian Stauffer, and John William Stauffer. He is also survived by his sister Patricia Stauffer Benson (Jack) and nephew Charles Benson.

He joined Stauffer Chemical Company, a multi-national corporation founded by his great-uncle in 1886. He worked in the Research Department in California and then moved to the headquarters in New York City, later in Westport, CT, where he served as Director of Corporate Development. Following the sale of the company, he founded Stauffer Technology and worked as an author, consultant, inventor, and speaker. His book, Quality Assurance of Food, published in 1988, was used as a textbook in food science and nutrition courses in universities throughout the world. He was proud of the endorsement in the foreward, written by Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr., a Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Jack, as he was known, was invited to speak at international technology conferences in Russia, Austria, Baharain, Morocco, Singapore, and Romania. He was vice chairman of the United Nations Conference on the International Use of Energy and Raw Materials in the Petrochemical Industry, held in Sinaia, Romania, in 1994.

He was issued over 65 United States and international patents, involving nuclear energy, innovative batteries and engines, electricity transmission, and chemical processes, many leading to reduction of harmful chemical pollutants. Since childhood, Jack loved scientific experiments and worked in his home laboratory testing many of his processes. He was a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Société de Chimie Industrielle, the Science History Institute, the New York Acememy of Sciences, the International Association for Food Protection, and the Research and Development Associates for Military Food and Packaging.

Jack was elected a member of District 10, Greenwich Representative Town Meeting. Following his speech on the importance of preservation of outdoor space and neighborhoods, he was tapped to serve on the Planning and Zoning Commission. He voted in the majority in the 1973 controversial 3-2 decision denying Xerox corporation the permission to use land on King Street for offices. That land later became the campus of Brunswick School. He served on the governing boards of the Bruce Museum, the Round Hill Fire Company, the Round Hill Community Church, and the Belle Haven Club. He was also a member of the Field Club of Greenwich, The Knickerbocker Club, The Princeton Club of New York, and Great Harbor Yacht Club in Nantucket, Mass.

Skiing and cycling were among his athletic passions. He and his family spent over four decades schussing the slopes of Stratton Mountain, Vt., where they owned a chalet. As a cyclist, he and Valerie participated in over a dozen International bicycle trips, cruising along the back roads and hills of Italy, France, Scotland, Germany, China and India.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 4:30 p.m. at the Round Hill Community Church, 395 Round Hill Rd. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations in his memory may be made to Greenwich Library, Development Office, 101 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, Connecticut, 06830 or to the Nantucket Cottage Hospital Foundation, 57 Prospect Street, Nantucket, Massachusetts 02554.

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