His Obituary: Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA - July 18, 1996
John W. Stearns, 85, Webster City, died July 16, 1996, at Crestview Manor Care Center. Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Foster Funeral Home, with Rev. Sue-Ellen Sherman officiating. Burial will be at Graceland Cemetery. Graveside military services will be conducted by American Legion Post No. 191. Visitation will be at the funeral home after 8 a.m. Friday until the time of service.
John Walter Stearns, son of William and Grace Teal Stearns, was born Sept. 18, 1910, in Webster City. He attended Webster City High School. He farmed in the Stanhope area. During World War II, he was a pilot instructor in the Army Air Force. For 30 years, he was in the wholesale ceramic supply business, living in Greenville, Texas. On April 30, 1981, he married Avis Shelton Paine at Bethany, Mo. The couple resided on a farm west of Webster City. He retired in 1982. He had resided at Crestview Manor for the past three months.
He is survived by his wife, Avis; stepson and stepdaughter-in-law, Galord and LoEda Paine, Webster City; foster stepdaughter, Betty Scott, Fort Dodge; step-grandson, Greg Paine; step-great-granddaughter, Abby Avis Paine; brothers, Frank, Ralph, and William, all of Webster City; sisters, Fannie Peters, Kanawha, Marjorie Wood, Pineville, Ore.; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; and stepson, Howard Paine.
Mr. Stearns was a member of the Homer United Methodist Church and a former member of Izaak Walton, and the Farm Bureau.
Source: ancestry.com
