Lois Virginia Plumb Stanton

Stanton—Lois Virginia Plumb Stanton, 93, on July 26, 2016, in Wallingford, Pa. Lois was born on August 14, 1922, in New Canaan, Conn. She graduated from Wilson College in 1943 with a bachelor’s in foreign language (she ultimately spoke five) and studied for a master’s in relief and rehabilitation at Haverford College, one of the first women to enroll there. She traveled to France and Germany with American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) to help rebuild towns and lives one community center at a time. In Europe she met William Macy Stanton Jr.—a conscientious objector and participant in the Minnesota starvation experiment also working with AFSC—when he requested a truck from her department. They married in Germany, Lois wearing a wedding dress that her mother had shipped there.

Upon returning to the United States, they lived on several college campuses where Bill served as an administrator, ultimately settling in Swarthmore, Pa., in 1957. While raising children, she worked part time and volunteered with three organizations, including the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. In 1966 she began a 25-year career with the Department of Public Welfare for Delaware County, Pa., fighting against stigmatization of welfare recipients. She and her family belonged to Middletown Meeting in Lima, Pa., and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. They attended family camps, civil rights demonstrations, and vigils for peace, and their hospitality—hosting foreign students, international social workers, and traveling Quakers—led to many reciprocal invitations, including an audience before the Samoan royal family.

After retiring, she self-published Tales of a Haverford R&R Girl, The Courtship of Two Quaker Relief Workers in Europe 1946–1947, and William Macy Stanton Jr. 1919–1995. As clever and brave in her social life as her professional one, she often found herself the center of parties, the perpetrator of pranks, and the star of Christmas pageants. In her later years she enjoyed what she called her second childhood, feistily challenging her grandchildren to games of pool and shouting out the answers to TV game show questions.

Predeceased by a son, Jay Stanton, and her husband, William Macy Stanton Jr., she leaves a legacy of social responsibility to her surviving children, Linda Stanton Lange and William Macy Stanton III; seven grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and her beloved caregiver, Louise Julason. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Stanton Family Scholarship Fund at Haverford College (370 Lancaster Ave., Haverford, PA 19041) or to AFSC Development (1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102).