Robert Henry Stovall, Sr.

February 16, 1926 - December 3, 2020

Love of family and a deeply held Catholic faith were core values for Robert Henry Stovall, Sr., a resident of Sarasota, Florida. He was a well-known Wall Street investment analyst who died peacefully holding Linda’s hand on December 3, 2020. Mr. Stovall was born on February 16, 1926 in Louisville, Kentucky to Agnes Catherine Hinkle and Harold Samuel Stovall, an ambitious couple who relocated to New Jersey when Robert and his sister Joanne were young, settling in Short Hills. Robert’s family focus, Catholic beliefs and deep respect for education were nurtured in his early years progressing through graduation in 1943 from Seton Hall Preparatory School in West Orange. Robert began on Wall Street as a messenger for Reynolds & Co., where his father was an executive, during summer vacations in the early 1940s. A deep sense of right and wrong during World War II prompted Robert to enlist in the U.S. Army before reaching legal age, and after boot camp in Texas he served as a medic in Italy. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School with a BS in Economics in 1948, Mr. Stovall studied Political Economy at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, where he met his future wife, Inger (née Bagger). He earned an MBA in 1957 from New York University. Robert joined E. F. Hutton and Co. in 1953 as a junior analyst, working his way up to Partner for Research in 1961. Later he was Research Director of Nuveen Corporation before rejoining Reynolds as a Partner in Marketing and Research. After 16 years with Dean Witter Reynolds, he became President of Stovall Twenty First Advisers, Inc., before moving to Prudential Financial and Wood Asset Management in Sarasota, Florida. Mr. Stovall was best known as a panelist on the PBS television show, “Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser” where he was one of Louis’ analytical “elves” and was elected to that program’s Hall of Fame. He was a frequent commentator on financial TV and radio, and as a regular columnist for such publications as Forbes and Financial World. Mr. Stovall and his late wife Inger had four natural children; Sten, Sam, Benedikte, and Robert, Jr. – and six grandchildren, as well as two “Pedro Pan” children from Cuba – Henry and Eduardo Del Riego – who have enriched the family since 1962. After being widowed in 2003, Robert remarried and enjoyed over 16 loving years of marriage to his surviving wife, Linda Wheatley-Stovall, a fellow Kentuckian, NYU MBA degree-holder, was the principal in her executive search firm after leaving corporate financial officer positions. Robert was predeceased by his beloved sister, Joanne Stovall Perrot, in 2009. Mr. Stovall’s activities included being a member of the NYU Board of Trustees and an adjunct NYU professor of finance for 25 years; a regular lecturer at Stetson University’s George Investment Program and a director of the National Council on Economic Education. Mr. Stovall was also Chairman of the Securities Industry Institute at the Wharton School and was a Life Trustee. Private interment will be at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover, New Jersey. A memorial service will be held early in 2022.