Meet Our Donors
Prescott and Jane Stearns
Prescott W. Stearns Jr. passed away July 27, 2012, at his home in Stanhope, N.J., at age 87. His wife Jane had died Jan. 28, 2004, at the age of 80. Knowing that donations to our small college will be carefully and well-used and will make a difference in students' lives, they generously left a lasting legacy to Johnson State College. Although neither were alumni of Johnson State College, Prescott and Jane Stearns were lifelong donors who strongly supported the college's mission. Their legacy includes:
The Helen Braley Stearns Memorial Scholarship
Beginning in 1997, Prescott made annual gifts to the college for scholarships in memory of his mother, Helen Braley Stearns, JSC class of 1913. To ensure these scholarships would continue, in 1999 he and Jane established a $20,000 charitable gift annuity which will be used to endow the scholarship.
The Jane Stearns Memorial Scholarship Endowment
Prescott established this endowment in memory of his wife in 2005 with a $10,000 gift, which was matched by a federal Title III Endowment Challenge grant. The scholarship is awarded annually to an upper-class student who is involved in athletics and has financial need.
The Jane and Prescott Stearns Endowment
This endowment was established in 2012 with a bequest left to the College by Jane. The endowment interest will be used to fund "The Jane and Prescott Stearns Scholarship in Honor of Helen Braley Stearns and Prescott Stearns Sr. Scholarship" to be awarded to a student who is a resident of Sussex County, NJ, is active in athletics, and maintains a B average or better.
The Prescott Stearns Trust
Upon Prescott's death in 2012, the College became one of 3 beneficiaries (along with St. Johnsbury Academy and the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum) of Prescott's estate. The $1.4 million dollar gift was used to establish a trust fund for the benefit of the College.
Prescott and Jane Stearns were wonderful friends to Johnson State College. Although neither were alums, they had a deep connection.
Prescott's mother, Helen Braley Stearns, graduated from Johnson Normal School in 1913 and embarked on a long career as a dedicated teacher, first in the Vermont public schools in St. Johnsbury and later in New Jersey, where she remained a teacher until age 70. His father was born in Waterville, Vt., grew up in Johnson and played on the Johnson High School baseball team.
Prescott himself grew up in St. Johnsbury and graduated from St. Johnsbury Academy; he went on to attend Norwich University and, after serving in World War II, to UVM, obtaining a degree in chemical engineering. He and Jane met on a blind date when he was in the service and stationed in New Jersey, where Jane had been born and raised.
During his career as a chemical engineer, Prescott was project manager for a chemical company for some years, and then worked for the federal government as an engineer with Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. In 1985, accompanied by Jane, he went to Egypt to help with the building of a weapons plant as part of the Camp David Accord. The rockets and boosters his operation built were used in the Desert Storm/Kuwait War.
Prescott and Jane made their home in New Jersey's Netcong/Stanhope community, where Jane pursued a career in banking. She worked at the First Union Bank (formerly Citizens National Bank of Netcong) for 42 years, retiring in 1985, and was the first woman in New Jersey to become a senior bank president. Jane maintained a lifelong interest in athletics and education. She coached and officiated for high school girls basketball for many years and was a swimmer and an accredited lifesaving teacher.
Jane and Prescott very much appreciated the struggle many JSC students face in covering the cost of college, and they wanted to help deserving students. Both were pleased to be able to establish endowments that would carry on their names and memories. Their farsighted gifts to the college will help JSC students for generations to come.
