John W. Stearns

John W. (Jack) Stearns was born and spent his formative years in San Diego, CA., son of Frederic and Stella Wilhelm Stearns. In 1942 he enlisted in the US Army Air Cadet program and received his commission as a Navigator in 1943. He was then assigned as a Navigator of a B-17 bomber with the 8th Air Force flying from England. His plane was shot down on his 26th bombing mission over Germany in August 1944 and he was a POW until liberated in April 1945.

After World War II, he matriculated at the University of Wisconsin, earning a BA and an LLB in 1950. Jack entered the banking trust profession in Albuquerque, NM, was a member of the New Mexico Bar Association and received a Certificate in Security Analysis from the New York Institute of Finance. In 1955 he moved to Mansfield, OH where he met and married Joan E. Snyder. In 1968 the family moved to Amherst, NH after Jack accepted a position as VP and Trust Officer at Indian Head National Bank in Nashua. While in Amherst, Jack was a member of the Volunteer Fire Department, he was a little league coach and involved in the Cub Scouts.

The family moved to Bedford in 1978. After Jack retired in 1987, he actively audited the major disciplines at the Thomas More College in Merrimack, and received an honorary BA degree in 2003. For 16 years he performed volunteer work at the College and for 10 years he was Trustee and Treasurer of the Pine Haven Boys Center at Allenstown.

Jack is survived by his wife of nearly 55 years, Joan; children Michael of Concord, NH; Susan Sweeney and her husband Joseph of Phoenix, AZ; David and his wife Kim of Bedford, NH; Anne Harbrige and her husband Jay of Gilbert, AZ and seven grandchildren.

Cremated remains will be interred at the Military Cemetery at Boscawen at the convenience of the family.