John Caswell Stoddard ’38

John died July 14, 2007, near Mystic, Conn., where he had lived for several years.

John grew up in Garden City, N.Y., and came to Princeton from the Pomfret School. He was a member of Colonial Club and manager of Triangle Club.

In 1941, John married Jean McKenney, who died in 2006.

During World War II, John joined the American Field Service and drove ambulances in Italy, surviving harrowing artillery attacks.

Postwar he worked in international business, and during the next 30 years, held positions with the State Department and the U.S. Information Agency in Santiago, Quito, Florence, Bangkok, Vientiane, Belgrade, and Rome. He and Jean also lived for stretches in Washington, D.C., where he earned a master's degree from American University in 1971.

In retirement, John lived in Madison, Conn., where he was instrumental in saving the historic 1685 Deacon John Grave House. In May 2004, the class bestowed on John its Distinguished Service Award "for effectively personifying the Wilsonian ideal and Princeton tradition of ‘selfless service to one's fellow men.'"

John's brother, Brooke Stoddard '37, predeceased him in 1965. The class extends sincere condolences to his son, three daughters, and seven grandchildren.