All boys. All boarding. Grades 9-12.

Woodberry Forest Remembers John Stillwell ’45

Woodberry Forest School is sorry to report that John Stilwell ’45 died on February 27, 2015, in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Woodberry Forest alumnus and former faculty member is remembered fondly for his years of commitment to the school.

John was born in 1926 in Quincy, Illinois, and came to Woodberry as a member of the class of 1945. Because of World War II and the draft, John earned his diploma at the end of his fifth-form year, forgoing his sixth-form year to enlist in the US Navy. He served as an aerial gunnery instructor and went on to graduate from Williams College in 1949. He was called back to military service in the Korean War and then returned to Quincy and his job with an agricultural machinery manufacturer, married Gay Miller, and started a family.

In 1957, John returned to his alma mater as a teacher, and during his thirty-year career at Woodberry Forest School, he earned an MA in English at the University of Virginia, taught English, founded the Bengal Book Club for third and fourth formers, and coached football, wrestling, lacrosse, and track. He served in the school's administration as director of admissions and was the founding director of the financial aid program. He was the first recipient of the Camp Family Chair, holding it from 1983 until his retirement in 1986.  John was honored in 1990 with Woodberry Forest School's Distinguished Service Award. He served two terms on the board of trustees. In 1999 John received the prestigious J. Carter Walker Award.

There will be a memorial service to celebrate John's life on Tuesday, March 3, 2015, at 3:00 p.m. at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Ivy, Virginia. A reception will follow at the church.

Read John A. Stillwell's obituary in the Charlottesville Daily Progress.
Woodberry Forest admits students of any race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, and national or ethnic origin to all of the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs. The school is authorized under federal law to enroll nonimmigrant students.