John Richard Stoeffler

John Richard Stoeffler, 82, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 18th surrounded by his loving family members. Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, on March 15, 1941, John grew up in a loving home and was the oldest of 5 brothers and sisters. He went to Pennsylvania Military College where he met his soon to be wife at a military dance. It was love at first sight and he told the story many times that he knew the minute he saw her; he was going to marry her. He served as a Lieutenant in the Army (parachutist) for 2 years in Korea. When he came back, he married Linda Lord, of Pleasantville, NJ. John was a salesman for General Electric which took him to Oklahoma and eventually to St Louis, Missouri where he and Linda settled for over 40 years, had two daughters and raised their family. John eventually became an independent manufactures rep for safety equipment until his retirement and they later moved to St Petersburg, Florida to be close to their daughter, son-in-law and grandkids. John was extremely intellectual and enjoyed studying history and government and the constitution just for fun. His idea of light reading was constitutional amendments and Supreme Court rulings. He ran for congress in ’76 and stayed involved with politics, helped with political campaigns and was active in the community. He enjoyed writing op-ed columns in the St Louis Post Dispatch and the West News Magazine. He was a true American and passionate about our country. He wrote many poems about the battles and wars fought for our freedom. He was passionate about the military, and he lost several friends in Vietnam. He teared up talking about those who fought and lost their lives and loved a good song or book about soldiers. He met weekly with his Veteran friends for breakfast and to bond over similar stories. He loved to travel with his wife, Linda, and they went on so many wonderful vacations all over the world. He was a writer, he invented board games, played guitar, wrote many country songs and even while he was sick, wrote a couple of books, Lexie’s Gift and God, Family, Freedom. When John retired, he developed a non-profit called the Sweet Dreams Pillow project. He and Linda sewed pillows with pictures of military dads or moms serving overseas and sent them to their children so they could still hug their mom or dad. They sewed and mailed over 14,000 pillows! All paid with their own money along with some donations. John said it was the best job he ever had, although he never got paid. He loved helping people! John loved his family with his whole heart. His pride and joy were his grandkids. He made shirts he wore that said “they call me grandpa” with photos of the kids. He attended every single event, sport, birthday, and special occasion he could. He loved his wife and cared deeply for her. He went to quilt shows to show off her quilts and he was so proud of her talent of painting. He wrote a beautiful song for her called I SPELL LOVE Y-O-U and played it for her as many times as he could. She got dementia and John took such diligent care of her, even though he was so very sick, all the way up till he went into the hospital. John lived to serve and care for people. He loved to crack jokes and make people laugh! He would do impromptu magic shows for kids at restaurants, joke with anyone and everyone, he was always full of life! The best testament to him was every single hospital or rehab center he was in; the entire staff and caregivers loved him. They would always say they were so happy to see he was their patient. He said he enjoyed making people smile and if he could brighten one persons day, his mission was accomplished. John will be deeply missed by his loving wife of 57 years, Linda, daughter, Laura (Kevin Vetter), grandkids, Haley, Kylie, Kanon, and Lexie, his siblings, Jim, Charles, Patricia, and Margaret, and his many nieces, nephews and cousins. He was preceded in death by his father and mother and his daughter, Susan. John’s Celebration of Life will be held: Sunday March 17th 4-6pm Point Brittany Clubhouse 5055 Brittany Dr S St Petersburg, FL 33715 John’s Funeral: Monday March 18th 11am Honor Guard Ceremony Sarasota National Cemetery 9810 Highway 72 Sarasota, FL 34241 “I will love you forever and ever”. ❤️ Donations can be made in John Stoeffler’s name to: Operation: Military Matters PO Box 8132 Seminole, FL 33775 https://www.paypal.com/US/fundraiser/charity/2396041 https://operationmilitarymatters.com/

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John Richard Stoeffler

March 15, 1941 - February 18, 2024