Donald Stahl, a master’s degree student in University College in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died March 22, 2017, at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond Heights, Mo., after suffering a heart attack on campus. He was 73.
A retired social worker, Stahl was pursuing a master’s degree in international affairs. He had been enrolled in University College, the professional and continuing education division of Arts & Sciences, since spring 2015.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Missouri–St. Louis in 1972, a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1980 and an education specialist degree from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 1989.
University College Dean Mark Rollins will award an advanced certificate in international affairs posthumously in recognition of the academic work Stahl completed.
Rollins said, “At age 71, Donald Stahl wrote in his master’s program application that ‘there are people my age who are not concerned about the social and political developments we have seen, but I find it hard to imagine such people. I am well aware of my own need for a further systematic education in social and international studies in order to address these concerns now.’
“To me, this attitude and these thoughts, expressed when they were, reflect a real commitment to education as fundamentally important for a life well lived,” Rollins said.
Stahl is survived by a brother, Edward Gerard, and numerous friends, including David J. Arnold, Maureen P. McKenzie, Joseph B. Gibbs and Joyce M. Marini. He was preceded in death by his parents, Alice T. Gerard-Stahl and Albert F. Stahl, and a brother, Albert Stahl.
A memorial service will be at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 9, at Hope Chapel, First Unitarian Church of St. Louis, 5007 Waterman Blvd., St. Louis.