Whitney Stevens ’48

Whitney died Sept. 10, 2021. He was active and cheerful to the end. 

He was born Nov. 26, 1926, in Plainfield, N.J., and graduated from Phillips Andover Academy. While at Princeton he served in the U.S. Naval Reserves and met his lifelong friend and classmate Gregory “Moose” Nowakoski. He never missed a reunion and was an avid fundraiser for Princeton, leading his 50th campaign. 

Whit “lived and breathed” textiles, spending his entire career in the family-founded textile company, J.P. Stevens & Co. — one of the largest American textile firms, which traced its roots back to the early 1800s. He rose through the ranks, becoming president in 1969 and then chairman and CEO before his retirement.

A man of many interests, he was a longtime trustee of Mount Sinai Health and governor of the Meadow Club of Southampton. He also oversaw the family’s foundation and American Fork Ranch in Montana. 

Whit had two sons, Mark ’73 and David, with his first wife, Polly Kraft, and daughter Joan ’86 with his wife of 55 years, Helene — as well as four grandchildren, Emmelyn Stevens ’09, Julia Philippa ’13, Alexander, and Abigail; and great-grandson Seamus Green.