stalnaker, ward Ward Benton Stalnaker III, teacher, environmentalist, humanitarian and devoted student of Judaism, died on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015, in Snowflake. Ward was born Aug. 6, 1944, in New Castle, Pa. After graduating from Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pa., and then Oberlin College in Ohio, he continued to study mathematics at Washington University in St. Louis and in Vienna, Austria. He worked in the insurance industry in California, and then found his enduring passion, teaching. He taught mathematics at Mount Tamalpais School in Mill Valley, Calif. He was a member of Congregation Rodef Sholom in San Rafael, and a participant in Jewish worship and study in many settings. Ward was active politically, working for peace, justice, the environment and protection of vulnerable populations. He was a founder of Amnesty International Group 142 in Marin County, Calif. In 2005, suffering from environmental illness, Ward moved to Arizona. There, as he struggled with deteriorating health, he continued to study, to teach and support the people around him, and to strive to improve the world. He achieved formidable knowledge of biology, chemistry, nutrition, Hebrew and Jewish texts. He wrote letters and position papers about organic farming, the value of local gardens, and about maternal and child health. He studied the Hebrew Bible daily, and loved to discuss differing interpretations and applications to current social and political life. Ward is mourned by his friends, Mary Krier of San Rafael, Calif., Crystal Laflin, Margaret Redhead, and Rose Cluff of Snowflake, Helen Luey of San Francisco, Calif., and the environmental illness community of Snowflake. His friends suggest that contributions in his memory be made to the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center in San Francisco, Congregation Rodef Sholom in San Rafael or the Environmental Defense Fund. Silver Creek Mortuary of Taylor was in charge of the arrangements.