THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997 TAG: 9702150730
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 57 lines
Samuel DeStefano, 88, died Feb. 12, 1997, in Virginia Beach General Hospital after a brief illness.
He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Elizabeth Williams DeStefano; a daughter, Donna, and her husband, W. Edward Hudgins Jr.; two grandchildren, Matthew J. Hudgins and Holly H. Davidson and her husband, Michael H. Davidson; a great-grandson Austin Michael Davidson, all of Virginia Beach; and several nieces and nephews.
Born in Scranton, Pa., he was a graduate of Scranton Technical High School. He was a founding member of Sagamoe Club of West Scranton. Unable to pursue a much desired college degree following high school, he pursued course work at night while working full time and with much pride, graduated with distinction from George Washington University in 1965, at the age of 57. He also completed three years at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
He built a career in engineering which began in 1926 with highway design with the Pennsylvania Department of Highways. From 1937 to 1940, he worked on the then-pioneering Pennsylvania Turnpike. In 1941, he began his federal civil service career with the Transportation Corps. From 1945 to 1952, he worked at the New York Port of Embarkation. In 1952, he transferred to Fort Eustis, Va., as chief engineer of the research and development division. From 1960 to 1964, he served as technical director at Fort Eustis, responsible for testing U.S. Army equipment used in Vietnam and other fields of operation, including solar boats, air craft propelled boats, large-tired vehicles used in Arctic operations and sand and amphibious cargo carriers and landing craft.
From 1952 to 1960, he served on national committees developing Standards for the Army, Navy and Air Force using common components. He also served on the joint Military and Industry Committee of the American Standards Association developing common standards between military and industry. He also chaired various international committees for developing common standards among U.S., Great Britain and other nations.
He retired in 1969, at the age of 61 and began a rewarding 25-year second career as a substitute teacher. He served the Newport News and Hampton schools for ten years in the classroom and with homebound students. In 1980, he moved to Virginia Beach where he continued as a much-sought after substitute teacher at Cox High School and First Colonial High School, averaging 114 to 120 days a year of teaching until he retired in 1994. He loved teaching because he said it let him stay abreast of young people, kept his mind alert and he served a useful purpose. He was always pleased when former students remembered him when he encountered them in public years later.
He was loved and admired and will be missed by his immediate family and close friends and by his extended family of pals, including those at the K-Mart Pharmacy, BB&T, Holy Family Catholic Church, and his weekly blood pressure screening gang.
He was a member of Holy Family Catholic Church, Great Neck Road. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 1 p.m. today at Holy Family Catholic Church by Father Richard Mooney. Interment will be in Eastern Shore Chapel Cemetery immediately following. Memorial donations may be made to Holy Family Catholic Church. H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments, Laskin Road Chapel, are handling arrangements.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY