John D. Stark, 72, a retired Temple University professor, died October 15, 1999. He was an associate professor in Temple's department of history specializing in the American South, from 1974 until he retired in 1990. He started at Temple as an instructor in 1959 while still working on his doctorate in history.

Born and raised in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, near Wilkes-Barre, Stark earned a BA in history from Wilkes College in 1950 and an MA in the same subject from Bucknell in 1955. He received his PhD in history from Duke in 1961.

In 1968, he published Damned Upcountryman: William Watts Ball; A Study in American Conservatism.

Before joining the Temple faculty, he taught for a year at his high school alma mater, West Pittston High School, and he was an instructor at Duke for a year. He was a Navy veteran.

History was his first love, said his brother, Ned. But he also enjoyed reading, going to the theater and movies, and solving crossword puzzles. His brother is his only immediate survivor.

—Reprinted with permission from the Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 21, 1999