Obituary of Linda Ann Wellman Stansfield
Linda Ann Wellman Stansfield passed away peacefully on November 5, 2018 in Denville, NJ.
Linda was born in Auburn, NY to Kenneth and Mildred Wellman. She was a descendant of Thomas Wellman who arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony from London in 1635, thus she was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. A graduate of Cornell University, she majored in Chemical Engineering and English Literature. She was a member of the Delta Gamma Sorority. While at Cornell she met and married the love of her life, James E. Stansfield. They lived in upstate NY with their four children until moving to Mountain Lakes, NJ in 1966.
Through her career and volunteer work she was a noted environmentalist with a special emphasis on air pollution. As the Program Consultant for Environmental Affairs of the American Lung Association of NJ for over a decade, she was much sought after for her knowledge and advice, often testifying at the State and National level. She served as New Jersey State Coordinator for the National Clean Air Coalition and as a member of the Environmental Collegium. She was a member of the Clean Air Council of New Jersey for 7 years and it’s Chairman from 1990-1992. She was Chairman of the Environmental Quality Advisory Board of NJDEPE, a member of the Environmental Advisory Group NJDOT, and a member of the Emissions Reductions Credits Demo Project as well as a member of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.
On a more local level, Linda was President of The Tourne Valley Coalition which helped save The Tourne Park that is enjoyed by so many in Morris County today. She was appointed to the first Environmental Commission in Mountain Lakes, serving for over a decade and as Chairman from 1974-79. Along with the Planning Board, this committee was responsible for ordinances that resulted in over 160 acres of borough property being dedicated as public parkland and no longer available for development. She served as President of the Garden Club of Mountain Lakes for two years and as a member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment for ten years. She also was an active member of the local and state League of Woman Voters, the local AAUW and the Junior Woman’s Club. In 1989 she was named “Mountain Lakes Citizen of the Year”.
To her family and friends she was a lover of the Arts, a world-wide traveler who made friends around the globe, an avid reader, a passionate gardener and mostly a devoted wife, mother and grandmother.
She was pre-deceased by her husband Jim in 1994. She will be deeply missed by her devoted daughter Leslie Holasek with her husband, Jonathan, and their children Josephine, Phoebe; loving sons, Gregg with his wife, Nancy, and their children, Caitlin, Nathan, James, Scott and his wife, Shelley, and their son, Taylor, Terry, and his children, Thomas, Anna; dear sister, Sue Gambrell and her husband, Ken; sister & brother-in-law, JoAnne and David Diller; and her foreign exchange son, Hans Bohman of Stockholm Sweden.
A Memorial Service will be held at The Community Church in Mountain Lakes on Saturday, December 15th at 11:00am. To honor Linda, the family asks that donations be given in her name to The National Park Foundation (www.nationalparks.org/tribute) or mailed to: National Park Foundation, 1110 Vermont Avenue NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20005.