Walter Black Stults died March 29 at Carol Woods, Chapel Hill, NC, after a short illness, at the age of ninety-five. He was born in Hightstown, New Jersey, the son of C. Stanley Stults and Nettie Black Stults. He was the grandson of Charles and Adelaide Stults and Walter C. and Sara Black, all of Hightstown.
Walter Stults attended Hightstown public schools, graduating from high school in 1939. He graduated from Williams College, Williamstown, Mass, in 1943 and received an M.A. degree in Politics in 1949 from Princeton University where he was an early recipient of a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship.
His education was interrupted during World War II when he served in the Army Air Corps from January 1943 until January 1946. Serving as an enlisted man, he was based in Australia, New Guinea, and the Philippines.
Following completion of his graduate studies, Mr. Stults became Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Robert Hendrickson (R, NJ) in 1949. The next year, he was named Staff Director of the Senate Small Business Committee, a post he held until 1961. From 1961 to 1986, he was President of the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies, a trade association headquartered in Washington.
In June 1947, Mr. Stults married Ann DeArmond Haynes, of Clarksburg, West Virginia, daughter of Dr. Herbert Haynes and Frances Curtin Haynes. During the next 55 years, Ann and Walter Stults lived in Princeton, N.J., Alexandria, VA., Washington, DC, and Chapel Hill, N.C. They had two sons, Andrew and Thomas. Ann Stults died in 2002.
Following his retirement from the association, Mr. Stults was an independent business consultant in Washington. He served as a director of Pardee Resources Company, Philadelphia and of Sunwestern Investment Group of Dallas. He was also Chairman of the Council of Small and Independent Business Associations.
Mr. and Mrs. Stults moved to the Carol Woods Retirement Community in Chapel Hill, N.C, in 1992. He was active there as President of the Residents Association and served as a member of the Carol Woods Board of Directors 1994-1996 and from 2000-2006.
In 2003, Mr. Stults married Jean Morris Curtin, of Clarksburg, W.Va. and Georgetown, Maine. They lived in North Carolina and Maine until her death in 2016. They traveled widely and took great pleasure in their combined family.
During his years in Chapel Hill, Mr. Stults was a member of the United Church of Chapel Hill, the Chapel Hill Country Club, the Plato Loft Group, and the Triangle Land Conservancy. He was also a 70-year member of the Masonic Lodge in Hightstown.
Walter Stults was predeceased by his parents and by his brother, Charles S. Stults. He is survived by his two sons and their wives: Andrew Stults (Rhonda) of Chapel Hill and Thomas Stults (Tina) of Long Creek, S.C., and by his two grandsons, Hayden and Cooper, of Washington, D.C., and Mountain Rest, S.C. respectively.
He also leaves two stepchildren, Robert Curtin of Brunswick, Maine and Susan Stevens and her husband, Philip, of Georgetown, Maine and seven step-grandchildren, Katharine Gustafson, of Portland, Maine; Nathan Stevens of Charleston, W.Va.; Laura Stevens of Raleigh, N.C.; Sarah Brown, of Georgetown, Maine; and Molly Stevens, of Miami. Also surviving are a number of cousins, nieces, and nephews.
There will be a graveside service at the East Windsor Cemetery in East Windsor, N.J. on August 5 at 11:00 am. Local arrangements are under the direction of the Barlow & Zimmer Funeral Home, Hightstown.
Memorial gifts may be made to the Hightstown-East Windsor Historical Society, or to the charity of your choice.
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