Stanley Potter

Born January 6, 1913, Stanley A. Potter, died January 13 2012, one week after his 99th birthday. Stan’s life and work was tied to the sea.  As a teenager he designed his own sailing fishing boat to supply food for his family.  Later he worked as a draftsman and naval architect designing: naval ships in WWII, private yachts, fishing and research vessels, an ice breaker and replicas of historic sailing ships.

In 1972, soon after retiring, Stan and his wife Jean departed for Auckland, New Zealand, where for two years they acted as “resident friends” at the Quaker Center in Mt. Eden.  Upon returning to the States, they moved to Damariscotta, Maine where they joined the Midcoast Quaker.

Stan was a long time Quaker. Earlier in life he and his wife Jean had been members of Quaker Meetings in Lynn, MA., Cambridge MA., and the aforementioned Midcoast, ME.  While living in North Carolina, he established a worship group in Beaufort and was a member of the Guilford College Board of Visitors. Stan moved to Oregon in 1992 to be near his daughter, Ann, and in 1993 transferred his membership to Multnomah Meeting in Portland, OR. He was known as a warm supporter of families with small children, even making dollhouses and other toys at Christmas. As long as his health permitted he was very active at Multnomah Meeting, successively on the finance committee and then on the property committee.  In 2003, Stan sketched out some possibilities of a remodeled and expanded Meeting House. The completed structure is very much as he envisioned it.

His daughter Ann of Portland, son Jonathan of Rockport ME, six grandchildren and five great grandchildren survive him. His wife Jean and son David preceded him in death.