John R. Stansfield (January 15, 1947 – December 16, 2018)
Retired National Weather Service Meteorologist John Stansfield of Nashua passed away at Massachusetts General Hospital on Sunday, December 16. He was 71 years old.
Born in Chicago, Illinois on January 15, 1947, son of the late Nancy Milne and Alfred J. Stansfield, John worked as a meteorologist for the majority of his life.
John’s parents moved from Chicago to Massapequa Park, New York when he was very young, and this is where he and his sister, Lori, lived and attended school throughout their childhood years. After graduating from high school in 1965, John attended Belknap College, a now defunct institution, in Center Harbor, New Hampshire where he acquired a Bachelor’s Degree in Meteorology.
Immediately following his graduation from college, John joined the Air Force as a weather officer where he spent a year at the Thule Air Base in Greenland. During his time in the service, John earned the rank of Captain, and, while in Thule, John wrote an article about the second highest wind (207 mph) ever recorded on Earth. The article appeared in the October 1972 issue of WeatherWise magazine. In 1973, John was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal for meritorious service as a weather officer at the Thule Air Base.
After his time in the Air Force, John moved back to New Hampshire where he formed a partnership with Bill Hovey, his former college professor from Meredith. For several years, John and Bill successfully provided weather forecasts to many radio stations from New England Weather Service, Inc., their co-owned business located in Center Harbor, New Hampshire.
John met his wife, Patricia, better known as Trish, in 1976. The couple was married in September 1977 and lived in Meredith for a year until John decided to leave his business to pursue a career with the National Weather Service (NWS), an agency under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) branch of the Department of Commerce. To that end, John and Trish moved to Long Island to live with John’s parents for a year in order for John to be closer to the NWS Eastern Region Headquarters. In the spring of 1979, John was offered a position at the Severe Storms Forecast Center in Kansas City Missouri. The couple lived there until September 1980 when John was given an opportunity to move back to New Hampshire and take a position at the FAA Center in Nashua as an aviation forecaster in a Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU). Nashua quickly became home for John and Trish where they have resided for the past 38 years.
During the 1980’s and 1990’s, there were many attempts to privatize the CWSU’s, the units located inside each of the Federal Aviation Administration’s 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC). John’s efforts to thwart these misguided attempts were instrumental in keeping the CWSU’s under governmental control, and, in turn, ensuring the safety of the flying public. He received two awards from the NWS Employees Organization (NWSEO) for his tireless work in this endeavor.
John received several certificates of outstanding performance while working for the NWS, a career that spanned over 40 years. He was also a member of several clubs and organizations including the American Meteorological Society, The Astronomical League, and the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston.
Aside from John’s work history, he was an avid amateur astronomer and had a particular interest in astrophotography. He took many pictures of celestial objects through one of his telescopes. John also shared his knowledge by teaching enrichment classes in meteorology and astronomy to young elementary students while his daughter, Jill, attended school.
He was very proud of his home and all of the work he did to improve his property. John loved working in the yard planting flowers and taking care of the shrubbery and lawn. Many friends and family members would comment about how John had the greenest and best looking lawn in the neighborhood.
Family was extremely important to John. He was a very loving and devoted husband, father, and grandfather. More recently, he loved taking his granddaughters to Fun World and watching them play games and frolic in the giant playground. John was lovingly called P-pa, a name given to him by his granddaughter, Amy, when she was very young.
John is predeceased by his son, Brad Richard Stansfield, who passed away in March 1982, his parents, Alfred and Nancy Stansfield, who passed in 2006 and 2007 respectively, his father in law, Philip Hobbs who passed in 2013, and his mother-in-law Mildred Hobbs, who passed away in October of this year.
Surviving family members include his wife, Trish, of 41 years, his son, Adam, his daughter, Jill and her fiancé Todd Patti, his two granddaughters, Amy and Emily, his sister Lori Scoones and her husband, Warren, and his brother-in-law Brian Hobbs and his partner Robert Monteleone.
Calling hours will take place at the FARWELL FUNERAL HOME, 18 Lock Street, in Nashua on Thursday, December 27 from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM, followed by a tribute to John between 11:00 AM and 12:00 PM. A private burial will take place at the Edgewood Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, 3300 E. Sunrise Drive, Tucson, AZ 85718 or online at http://mda.org/ in memory of John and his late son Brad Richard Stansfield.
To leave a note of condolence go to www.farwellfuneralservice.com
