Stanton Davis Tate

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Stanton Davis Tate

Stan Tate peacefully entered eternity November 3, surrounded by his family, after a long illness. Stan was a man of many interests; a smokejumper, an Episcopal priest, a county magistrate, a college professor, a juvenile justice advocate, a bioethicist with a lifelong search for what is "just."

He learned the value of hard work growing up in southeast Boise on the Triangle Dairy, the youngest son of John and Marjorie Tate. After Boise High, he met his wife, Lynn Campbell at U of I. The newlyweds and young daughter made their way east to Princeton Seminary in New Jersey for graduate school During his studies, he worked at the maximum security prison in Trenton, N.J. where he successfully helped free two falsely convicted young men, and ran a gym for street kids in Newark. He was selected as a special student at Philadelphia's Presbyterian Hospital and worked at the N.J. Neuropsychiatric Hospital, all of which culminated in his lifelong interest in advocacy.

Graduating Princeton Seminary with a degree in pastoral care and ordained as a Presbyterian minister, Stan took his young family, with the addition of a son, to a pastorate in eastern Montana and while there welcomed another son. He returned to Idaho where he sought additional Episcopal ordination, taking a parish in McCall. This allowed him to continue summer employment as a smokejumper, begun years earlier while at U of I. Long after his retirement as a an active jumper, Stan continued to serve as chaplain for local and national reunion activities, marriages and funerals.

Due to his experience working with youth, he was asked to be a juvenile probation officer during his Montana tenure. Stan continued his juvenile probation work in Idaho leading to his two-term election as probate judge, which allowed him to continue his focus on youth and justice. At this time a foster daughter, Karen, joined the family. During the Vietnam War, ranking Captain, he served as chaplain in the USAF 124th Fighter Receptor Group of the Idaho National Guard and was an active member of The American Legion, Post No. 2. at the time of his death.

While working in student services at Boise State, he taught a popular class on comparative religion. His rapport with students led to the development of C2ODAC, an approach identifying healthy thrill-seeking activities as an alternative to drug use. A movie documenting the program's development, "Good Vibes Van" won national acclaim.

While a presenter for the national Episcopal Marriage Encounter, Stan was offered the opportunity to relocate to Good Samaritan Church, Corvallis, OR with responsibilities to OSU students at Canterbury House. This led to a call to St. Mark's, Moscow, ID; another college ministry. While in Moscow, he taught a graduate class at U of I on professional ethics and served as a guest lecturer in the WAMI program on medical ethics. He completed his Doctorate in Biomedical Ethics at San Francisco Theological Seminary and University of California in Berkeley. Stan worked as a bioethicist at Gritman Hospital and consulted with local nursing homes for a number of years before retiring.

Stan is survived by his wife of sixty years, Lynn, daughter Teri and her husband Dan McColly, sons Scott and his wife Lauren, Phil and his wife Angie and foster daughter Karen Dellgard. Six grandchildren: Hilary, Emily, Kiefer, Clara, Charlotte and Gus, and five great grandchildren: Abigail, Esme, James, Luke and Jack.

As Stan embraced justice and advocacy throughout his life, his family would welcome memorials made in his name to organizations with that focus.

A memorial service celebrating Stan's life will be held at St. Michael's Cathedral on his 82nd birthday, December 5, at 1:00pm.

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