David Francis Stamps

David Francis Stamps, beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother, passed away on April 9, 2025, at Watertown, New York’s Samaritan Medical Center.

David, 73, of Adams, New York, was born to Stanton Jobson and Janet Lucille (Turner) Stamps in Kenedy, Karnes County, Texas, on March 13, 1952. David and the former Loretta Kay Whalen of Sackets Harbor, New York, were married for 50 years and five days, their wedding taking place in Sackets Harbor on April 4th, 1975.

David grew up in Williamstown, New York and was a graduate of Camden Central School. In 1993, at the age of 41, he earned an Associate of Science degree in Hospitality from Jefferson Community College. After graduating from college, he co-owned and operated Dave & Jim’s Pizza in Sackets Harbor.

In the early 2000s, David worked as a salesman, writer, and photographer for Adams, New York’s Jefferson County Journal and its statewide agricultural publication, the Empire State Farmer. Starting in 2014, he wrote a column “What Do I Think?” for Adams’s South Jeff Journal. David loved traveling, and during those years, his weekly column might originate from somewhere in Italy, Poland, or Czech Republic.

One of his proudest accomplishments was earning the 2018 Syracuse Press Club Robert Haggart First Place Print Award for Best Column. The award-winning piece, “She was right, I was changed forever,” was written following a tour of Poland’s Auschwitz-Birkenau camps.

Surviving besides his wife, Loretta, is their daughter Kerry Anne Spafford (David Dworak), grandchildren William David and Elizabeth Kaye Spafford, all of Connecticut, two brothers, Samuel Joseph (Jamie) Stamps, and James Houston Stamps, all of Florida.  He is survived by brothers-in-law Edward Thomas Whalen, Sackets Harbor, and Kendall James (Anne) Whalen, Victor, New York, and his sisters-in-law Mary Leta (Daniel) Corboy of Sackets Harbor, Mary Jane Caputo Whalen, Chittenango, New York, Nancy Cole Whalen, Canandaigua, New York, Marjorie Kelso, Vermont, and Anne Stegner, Syracuse. He is also survived by many nieces, nephews, and cousins. Pre-deceased are his parents, his brother Robert Sterling Stamps, Vermont, his sister-in-law Patti Lynn O’Hear Stamps, Vermont, and his brothers-in-law Charles Howard Whalen, Chittenango, and Patrick Jude Whalen, Canandaguia.

Services will be held on April 16, 2025 at St. Cecilia’s Church, Adams. A calling hour will begin at 10 AM, followed by the funeral mass 11 AM, officiated by Reverend Robert Decker. A luncheon will be held in the church hall at 12 PM and burial will follow at 2 PM in Sulphur Springs Cemetery. 

Arrangements are with D. L. Calarco Funeral Home, Inc. and online condolences may be made at www.dlcalarco.com

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