J.P. Stevens' Stahlsmith passes at 80

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 4/14/2003 12:00:00 AM

SPARTANBURG, SC —

A private memorial service was held here March 15 for industry veteran Robert John Stahlsmith Sr., 80, a former executive and director of J.P. Stevens Co., who died March 13.

Stahlsmith, who joined Stevens in 1950, became a corporate vp in 1964 and was elected to the board of directors in 1970.

After leaving J.P. Stevens, Stahlsmith became president of Iselin-Jefferson Woodside of Greenville, SC, and later a senior vp and director of Dan River Inc.

Active in community affairs, he was a former board member of St. Francis Hospital, Greenville, SC, and a former chairman of the United Way of Greenville. He received a Business Man of the Year Award at Roanoke College in 1978. In 1979, he received the National Brotherhood Award of the American Society of Christians and Jews in New York

Stahlsmith served as a Navy frogman in the Pacific during World War II and remained in the Naval Reserve until 1954. He was a graduate of Roanoke College, Roanoke, VA, where he lettered in football, baseball and basketball. He was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1972.