Stanley H. Amstutz

Stanley Hugh Amstutz, 93, passed away on Thursday, December 27, 2018 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida as he was disembarking from a Christmas cruise with his companion Lora Tucker at his side. He was born on November 6, 1925 in Berne to Wesley George and Ida (Stauffer) Amstutz, the second of four children and the only son. He was married for 69 years to Maxine Price.

After graduation from Geneva High School in 1942, he enlisted for WWII military service and was assigned to Great Lakes Naval Station in Chicago. After the war, he attended the UT - Austin, earning his bachelor’s degree in business in 1948. He began his business career with General Electric in Schenectedy, New York but was recruited in 1952 to join a start-up company in Dallas, namely Texas Instruments (TI), working as a computer programmer. He remained with TI until he took early retirement in 1980, to pursue adventures in cross-country commerce as a free-lance driver of 18-wheeler freight trucks. 

During this time he also was a faithful member of Dallas congregations of the Church of Christ, including congregations at Shamrock Shores, Garland Road, Highland Oaks, and later Christian Care Center. After retiring from his second career in trucking, he served as a hospital volunteer for Doctors’ Hospital in Garland, Texas for almost a decade. Among his many hobbies was playing duplicate bridge for nearly seven decades, earning the status of Gold Life Master with the American Contract Bridge League. 

He always encouraged his three daughters to pursue math and science, whether it was by teaching them (when they were quite young) to play card games such as spades, bridge or canasta or by taking them to visit his workplace at TI. He was proud of his Swiss heritage, and enjoyed cooking and sharing his favorite Swiss recipes with anyone willing to try his specialties. His family remembers with fond amusement his great appetite for butter with his bread, at home or at any restaurant on the planet, and his most frequently used words, ”more butter!” 

He was also a world traveler from the 1950s until this year, visiting hundreds of countries on all seven continents and returning frequently to Caribbean locations for family reunions in recent years.  

He was a devoted father to his daughters, Gloria Amstutz White (Dr. Jackson Pickett III); Texanne Amstutz Sotack (Major James Sotack, Jr. - deceased and Bob Bucter); and Amy Amstutz Claxton (Dr. David Claxton); grandfather to Jessica White (Dr. Brian Arneson); Travis White (Karen Way White); Benjamin Claxton; Christina Maxine Claxton; and James Hugh Claxton; and great-grandfather to Edward White. 

He is also survived by his sister, Myrna Amstutz Bauman (Steve Bauman); two sisters-in-law, Wanda Cavitt (Bobby Dan Cavitt - deceased); and Patsy Armstrong (A.J. Armstrong); brother-in-law, E.B.Price, Jr. (Billie Lou Price), and many nieces, nephews, and “adopted daughters” all of whom he treasured.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife on March 1, 2016; two sisters, Louise Amstutz Thibodeaux Edlen (Jason Thibodeaux – deceased and Dave Edlen - deceased); and Ruth Annette Amstutz Stahly (Dan Stahly - deceased); and three sisters-in-law, Dorothy Price; Kathryn Price Andrews (Edwin Andrews - deceased); and Roselle Price Shelby (Bill Shelby - deceased).

A memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 19 at Sparkman Funeral Home’s Chapel in Richardson, Texas. A private family burial will follow at the family property in Nubbin Ridge Cemetery in Granbury, Texas.