SOUTH DEERFIELD - John Kennison Stene, 92, of South Deerfield, died Monday, Nov. 9, 2009, at Poet's Seat Health Care Center in Greenfield.

He was born in Kingston, R.I., April 21, 1917, son of Andrew E. and Edith (Kennison) Stene. He graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1938. John met his wife, Flora (Manwell) Stene in Istanbul, Turkey, where he was teaching at Robert College and she was teaching nursing at the American hospital. The couple married in 1943 in Jerusalem, Palestine. Flora predeceased John in 2003. In Turkey, John taught at the American School of Tarsus from 1938 to 1941 and at Robert College from 1941 to 1944.

In 1939, he and two friends bicycled through Europe to Scandinavia, returning to Turkey just ahead of the Nazi invasion of Poland.

In 1944, John and Flora returned to the U.S. on a convoy of Liberty Ships. Following John's military service (1944 to 1947) in the U.S. Army, where he was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, and overseas in Japan and Korea, the family moved to Lafayette, Ind. John taught mechanical engineering at Purdue University until his retirement. He earned his master's and PhD at Purdue.

John and Flora retired to South Deerfield in 1983 and were members of The First Church of Deerfield, volunteered in local organizations, were active in the Dickinson Family Association and found time for daily walks at Sugarloaf Reservation and along Sugarloaf Street.

John is survived by a daughter, Ingrid Davis of Woodbury, Conn., and her companion, Brian Phillips; two sons, John K. Stene Jr., and his wife Joanne of Hummelstown, Pa., and Eric Stene and his wife Judy of Lakewood, Colo.; a brother, Edward L. Stene; and a sister, E. Harriet Stene; seven grandchildren, two great-grandsons and nephews, nieces, and their spouses and children.

His sister Ruth (Stene) Chase predeceased him.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 1 p.m. at The First Church in Deerfield. Memorial contributions may be made to The First Church of Deerfield, Greenfield Hospice of Franklin County, or to Poet's Seat Health Care Center's activity fund. Arrangements were under the direction of the Wrisley Funeral Home of South Deerfield.