Collins, J. Edward

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John George Stephenson, III - Colleague, Educator, Scholar

Villanova University School of Law: Digital Repository

Volume 18 Issue 1 Article 2 1972 John George Stephenson, III - Colleague, Educator, Scholar J. Edward Collins Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/vlr  Part of the Legal Biography Commons Recommended Citation J. E. Collins, John George Stephenson, III - Colleague, Educator, Scholar, 18 Vill. L. Rev. 4 (1972). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/vlr/vol18/iss1/2 This Tribute is brought to you for free and open access by Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Villanova Law Review by an authorized editor of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. VILLANOVA LAW REVIEWJOHN GEORGE STEPHENSON, III - COLLEAGUE,EDUCATOR, SCHOLARA visitor of a dozen years ago approaching the main entranceof the recently completed Villanova Law School building might havebeen somewhat intrigued with the sight, in the faculty parking areain front of the building, of a stately station wagon bearing the patinaof age and the bold letters on the side "Tusculum." Even more in-trigued would he have been were he to know that the owner was notthe master of an estate bearing that name, but rather one sufficientlyinterested in the classical tradition to christen his vehicle in re-membrance of an ancient Italian city reputedly founded by the son ofUlysses. Now, for some years Tusculum has passed from the scene,and now, to the deep regret and sorrow of all connected with theVillanova Law School, its intriguing owner, Professor John GeorgeStephenson, III, has also passed from the scene.What sort of a man was John? Like all of us, he was many men,but he stands out most distinctly, to a colleague of a dozen years,as the model of the ideal trust officer. If one were to typecast forsuch a role, the person selected would radiate qualities of integrity,honesty, reliability, competence, conservatism, dedication, and com-passion, all under such firm self-control as to be unflappable; the sortof a man to whom you could entrust the family fortune, as well asits secrets, and sleep well knowing they would be protected andpreserved for future generations to enjoy. John was that ideal.He came by these qualities through background and education.Born in Pittsburgh, he was graduated from Princeton where hisscholarship merited him a Phi Beta Kappa key which, typical of hismodesty, he never wore. His law degree was earned at the HarvardLaw School, to be followed later by a scholarly stint at the Yale LawSchool as a Sterling Fellow. Prestigious was his education, and Johnwore the prestige proudly, never losing his fond association with theseinstitutions. They were his many mothers and he their adoring son.His professional life began in his native Pittsburgh in privatepractice which he left to accept employment with the People's PittsburghTrust Company, again an association which observably made a pro-found impression upon his character and outlook. With the adventof World War II he experienced, for the first time, the immensesatisfactions of teaching, having been appointed respectively to thefaculties of the Provost Marshall General's School and the JudgeAdvocate General's School of the Army. He was never again toreturn to the practice of law, his overwhelming love having become[VOL 18 : p. 11Collins: John George Stephenson, III - Colleague, Educator, ScholarPublished by Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository, 1972NOVEMBER 1972] IN MEMORIAM 5legal education. This love he pursued at the Law School of theUniversity of Miami, and later at the gestation, birth, and nurturingto adulthood of the Villanova Law School.The area of his legal interest and scholarship was property, realand personal, ancient and modern. Over the years the courses he taughtran through the entire spectrum - from medieval interests to twentiethcentury condominia. His writings in the field were, in the early periodof his teaching career, considerable.1 Later he gave his undividedattention to the education of his students - inside and outside of theclassroom. His philosophy was summed up in his observation thateducation is the key to the advancement of civilization. The strongbonds of friendship and admiration in which he was held by the alumnigive testimony to the success of his endeavors in this advance. Theaffection with which he was regarded by his students is evidencedby the fact that he was the first of the teaching faculty to be honoredby having his portrait in oil hung on the walls of the Law Schoolby way of a class gift.But this gives us only a partial picture of the man. Only throughday-by-day association could one come to appreciate his deeper quali-ties, his unfailing good humor and pleasant smile being the outwardmanifestations of the serenity of his disposition. Not without reasonwas he known and long remembered by his students in the militaryschools as "Smilin' Jack from Ann Arbor." It was a gloomy day,indeed, when his face did not wear a cherubic beam.John was a man of culture, refinement, and taste. A devotee ofthe opera and symphony, he could not bring himself to risk exposureto the inanities of the television media until very recent years whenhe concluded that it had reached a somewhat hopeful state of incipientmaturity. But then, should not a property man have a well developedsense of history and a similarly well developed skepticism of prescience?A deeply-dyed conservative when that philosophy was not particularlypopular with his pedagogical colleagues, he showed himself to be aman of courage in staunchly defending his convictions in the face ofwidespread assault. His courage was also amply demonstrated whenhis physical strength and well-being were so heavily ravaged in hisrecent and final illnesses. His serenity in the face of these challengeswas indeed inspiring.But beyond everything else, John had a deep sense of humanity.For a number of years he served on the Law School committee for1. See, e.g., Stephenson, The Probate Jurisdiction of the War Department, 1MIA I L.Q. 57 (1947); Stephenson, Quarterly Synopsis of Florida Csses: PrivateLaw, 4 MIAMI L.Q. 47, 210, 344, 493 (1950) ; Stephenson, Constitutional Inviolabilityof Possibilities of Reverter and Rights of Entry in Florida, 6 MIAMI L.Q. 162 (1952);Stephenson, Land Office Business in Pennsylvania, 4 VILL. L. REv. 175 (1958).2Villanova Law Review, Vol. 18, Iss. 1 [1972], Art. 2https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/vlr/vol18/iss1/2VILLANOVA LAW REVIEWreadmission of students who had been excluded because of inferiorwork. His philosophy concerning second chances for such studentswas not always popular with the rest of his associates but certainlycaused us all to re-evaluate our thinking and our approach to studentsand legal education. It was his firm belief, so ably defended andadvanced, that once a student had been accepted into the Law School,and had in our judgment the qualifications to become a good lawyer,he should not be cast aside and his legal career abruptly ended, when,because of immaturity, or lack of inspiration, he had not done thework of which he was deemed capable. Rather, it was his positionthat such a student should be considerately treated, with any judgmenton his career chances suspended until, by contact with life and theoutside world during a leave of absence from legal studies, he maturedsufficiently to be able to pick up the law books with confidence and witha mentality prepared to accept the challenges of legal study. John couldnot be convinced that a law career should be terminated because of lackof maturity or effort. I believe he felt the failure of a student was hisfailure as well as the failure of the rest of us teaching that student.He often chided us on our attempts to judge students by our ownstandards (based on the assumption, rightly or wrongly, that lawprofessors have always been outstanding law students) rather than bythe standard of the average student. His position we found to beparticularly entitled to respect in view of his own excellent academicqualifications and the exceedingly high standards by which he judgedhis own conduct. On this battlefield John's position was not popular,but, on reflection, might well have been the wiser, more considerate,and more humane one.And this was John Stephenson, very much the individualist.Where else might one expect to see law books carried in the green bagof law students of a generation or two ago? Where else a man stalkinginto his office wearing the blue beret of a Basque and carrying a walkingstick with a steel tip of the type used by Swiss Alpinists to breakcrusty snow as they trample the mountains and vales? Where, indeed,now that he has gone? A gentleman of the old school whose likeunmistakeably we will never see again. We will miss John GeorgeStephenson, III.J. EDWARD COLLINS** Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law.[VOL 18 : p. 13Collins: John George Stephenson, III - Colleague, Educator, ScholarPublished by Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository, 1972

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John George Stephenson, III - Colleague, Educator, Scholar

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