Stover Lee Babcock, Jr.

Stover L. Babcock, Jr., 86, colloquially known as Stover 2 to his family and friends, passed away peacefully in his sleep on August 3, 2024, at Cokesbury Village in Hockessin, DE. Formerly of Fair Haven, NJ, Maplewood, NJ, and Short Hills, NJ, and for the last 20 years, Stover has called Delaware home. He was born in 1938, in Washington D.C., the only child of Stover Lee Babcock, Sr., and Janet Fletcher Babcock.

Growing up, Stover attended several schools, most notably St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, DE, which had the greatest impact on him and helped shape him into the man he became. His college experience began at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Phi Kappa Sigma), but undergraduate work was completed at George Washington University. He graduated with honors with a BBA in Accounting/ Business simultaneously serving in the Air Force ROTC. He went on to earn an MBA in Management/Finance/Economics at Eastern New Mexico University, while serving in the USAF Tactical Air Command, Cannon AFB NM, as 1^st Lieutenant Accounting & Finance Officer. Additional Doctoral program work ensued at Arizona State University.

Stover had an illustrious finance and Wall Street career with various roles in Fortune 500 companies such as Xerox, Sperry Rand, and American Express. He then went on to increasing responsibility in areas of budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) for multiple Wall Street firms including, Dreyfus, Oppenheimer, Merrill Lynch, Tucker/Anthony, The Gartner Group, and Mitchell Hutchins/Paine Webber.

After 25 plus years, he transitioned into consulting, offering expertise to small and mid-sized businesses to help them tackle their logistical challenges. He finally retired at age 70.

Stover married Anne Logan Beck in June 1962. Their two sons, Stover Lee Babcock III (wife Darlene), and William Reynolds Babcock (husband Mike), survive him. Stover’s Aunt Paulann Chrisner (husband Kevin), the younger sister of Janet Fletcher Babcock, also survives.

In November 1998, Stover married Jane Roe Fox. Jane’s daughters Anna Elizabeth Fox (husband Daniel Schmidt), and Katherine Marie Fox (husband Daniel Markley), along with Grandchildren Nora and Rhys Markley, also survive. Stover was thrilled that his sons and their spouses bonded with Jane’s daughters and their spouses, and all came together as a family.

Stover has always been known to many a friend and family member for a quirky and acerbic sense of humor. His quick wit allowed him to deliver “zingers,” which he encouraged those on the receiving end to “retaliate” in kind.

Stover’s lifelong passion was racing sports cars, specifically Porsches. Along with his sons, he “restored” several of them and raced them at tracks spanning the East Coast, from Canada to Virginia. Watkins Glen, NY became a particular favorite that was visited many times for both Porsche high speed driver’s education as well as racing.  Stover held memberships in several Porsche Club of America (PCA) Regions and participated in many of their events. He was a certified instructor with several regions and thoroughly enjoyed teaching new Porsche drivers driving skills and tactics. Many of his happiest and proudest moments were watching his Wife and Children as they took their turn on the track, enjoying the sport he so dearly loved.

One of Stover’s most cherished accomplishments was the introduction of high-speed driver’s education (DE) to the Delaware PCA Region. He was intimately involved in planning and running the Region’s first DE event at NJ Motorsports Park in October 2008. The Delaware Region continues to run this event at NJMP every year.

Stover had a deep love for animals and throughout his life had pets that ranged from exotic (monkeys), to the mundane (house cat). Regardless of the animal, he showed them nothing but love and affection.

The family thanks the staff at Cokesbury Village, especially those in Health Care and Hospice for their extraordinary care of Stover.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to:

Cokesbury Village WillowBrooke Court Fund. Checks should be made payable to Acts Legacy Foundation with CV WBC Fund in the memo and mailed to 420 Delaware Drive, P.O. Box 2222, Fort Washington, PA 19034 or online at www.actsgiving.com.

Or

Brandywine Valley SPCA , Copeland Center for Animal Welfare, 290 Churchmans Road, New Castle, DE 19720 or online at https://bvspca.org/donate/honor-a-life.

A Celebration of His Life will be held at Cokesbury Village, 726 Loveville Road, Hockessin, Delaware 19707 on Saturday, September 7, 2024, at 2PM.