Walter K. Stapleton ’56

Walt died Nov. 23, 2024.

He came to Princeton from the Wilmington (Del.) Friends School. He joined Tower Club, majored in English, and wrote his thesis on E.M. Forster. An LL.B. from Harvard followed and soon after a master of laws degree from Virginia. The University of Delaware awarded Walt an honorary doctor of laws in 1988.

After Walt practiced corporate law and served as Delaware’s assistant attorney general, President Nixon in 1970 appointed him at age 36 to the U.S. District Court. In 1985, President Reagan appointed Walt to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Among many accolades, in 2014 Walt received the American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for “an individual who demonstrates integrity and dedication to the highest standards of the legal profession.”

Walt was similarly committed to service: on the Governor’s Commission on the Code of Ethics for State Employees and as a director of the Big Brother’s Association, a trustee of the Wilmington Friends School, and a Sunday School teacher at the Silverside Church in Wilmington.

Walt was predeceased by his wife, Georgianna. He is survived by children Russell (Sylvia), Theodore (Moni), and Teryl Stapleton Price; four stepchildren; and three grandchildren.