Michael Gerard Stambaugh, age 66, passed away suddenly of health complications on October 9th, 2020 while vacationing in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
Mike was born on November 2nd, 1953 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Roberta (née McGinley) and Burnell Stambaugh. He was the second oldest of five children and grew up in Wyoming, PA, outside of Wilkes-Barre. He attended Wilkes University on a full scholarship for his Bachelor's degree in Mathematics in 1975. Upon graduating, he was the Class of 1975’s recipient of the “Alumni Award for Leadership,” given to the class member considered to have contributed the most to student life. He obtained a Master’s of Science degree in Medical Physics from Hahnemann Medical College in 1978.
Mike was American Board of Radiology certified in Radiologic Physics and Radiation Oncology Physics. He was the Director of Medical Physics Radiation Oncology at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, PA for over 10 years. After a 40 year career, he retired as Chief of Medical Physics at the Veteran's Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA under Penn Medicine in 2018. He was considered by his colleagues to be the ultimate professional - determined, dedicated, and driven. While maintaining a distinguished career as a Medical Physicist, he also instructed courses at Hahnemann and the University of Pennsylvania.
Throughout his life, Mike was an avid reader of professional journals, science-fiction and fantasy novels, and history non-fiction. It is suspected that he was a black belt in Hung Gar, but he was secretive about his rank. During his retirement, he was archiving family history and photos, spending time with his children, and enjoying new intellectual pursuits. Mike was actively studying three languages - Latin, German, and Irish - and loved to share his favorite phrases with his family.
Mike always loved to travel and wanted to dedicate his retirement to seeing the United States. He had completed two long road trips in 2018 and 2019 with the goal of visiting as many national parks as possible. At the time of his death, Mike had just begun yet another cross-country road trip beginning in Rocky Mountain National Park and intending to end with a visit to his daughter Alexandra in Santa Cruz, California.
Mike is survived by his children, Michael (and wife Elizabeth) and Alexandra Stambaugh, as well as his siblings: Kathryn Polansky (husband Joseph), Thomas Stambaugh (wife Kemmie), Richard Stambaugh, and Beth Stephenson (husband Jim). He is also survived by his ex-wife and friend JoAnn Stambaugh-Milone (née Venuto), as well as many loving nieces, nephews, in-laws, friends, and colleagues.
A Funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday, October 20th at St. John’s Chrysostom Church at 617 S Providence Road in Wallingford, PA at 11am. A public viewing at the church will start at 9am. Mike will be interred with family at Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon, PA.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that all donations be made to the Rocky Mountain Conservancy (www.rmconservancy.org) or to the National Park Service (www.nps.gov).