Janet Lucille Turner of Pulaski, New York and Stanton Jobson Stamps of Stanton, Texas were married at the Methodist church in Altmar, New York, seventy-five years ago, on 22 June 1946.
On the day of their marriage, Stanton was nearly 23 years old and still a member of the US Navy. Nearly five years earlier, on December 7, 1941, he was serving at Pearl Harbor aboard the USS New Orleans when that port was attacked by the Japanese. The next day, Stanton wrote in his diary, “Yesterday I witnessed the outbreak of a world war.”
By June 1946 Stanton was stationed at Floyd Bennett Field in New York City and there met Janet through her brother Robert, also stationed at Floyd Bennett Field. Janet, age 22, was a teacher on Long Island and in June 1945, had been one of the thousands of young women kissing sailors and soldiers on Times Square in celebration of the Allies’ victory and the end of World War II.
For the first few years of their marriage, Stanton and Janet lived in Rungy, Texas where Stanton had a newspaper route and Janet taught in a one-room schoolhouse. Their first two children, Robert and David, were born in Kenedy, Karnes County, Texas. Janet and Stanton moved back to New York State in spring 1952, first living in North Syracuse, where Stanton worked for Bristol Laboratories. Later, they moved to Williamstown where they completed their family with sons James and Samuel.
Stanton and Janet made their home in Williamstown for the rest of their lives. Stanton worked for Camden Wire Company for over 30 years and was known for his good humor, mannerly demeanor, and quiet Texas drawl. Janet taught elementary school in Williamstown and Camden, and was called “the best teacher I ever had” by generations of area students.
Janet and Stanton conducted their lives with a quiet, good citizenship and were named Williamstown’s Citizens of the Year in 1991. They were members and officers of Williamstown’s Hastings-Gorski American Legion Post and Auxiliary and Stanton was honored by the Post in December 1991 on the 50th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Stanton passed away at home, at age 72, on 18 November 1995. Janet passed at age 83, on 21 September 2007. They are buried in Williamstown’s Fairview Cemetery.
They remain remembered, loved, and missed.