Lifelong public servant and former Northampton County Executive John Stoffa died May 2 at the age of 82, leaving behind a legacy of forethought and bipartisanship in policies he supported most.

Current Executive Lamont McClure in an interview said, “John Stoffa lived and breathed county government. His public service record speaks for itself. He had the very difficult job of being Human Services director in both Northampton and Lehigh counties. That demonstrates in and of itself a tremendous commitment to county government. If there is a more demanding job in county government, I haven’t seen it.

“When he had a conviction, he moved forward with it and he would to and as many people along on ride toward an important public policy goas [as he could]. For example there was some disagreement on county council on whether we should have a centralized Human Services facility, and ultimately he was able to persuade us that that was an important thing to do and he was right.

“There are many instances of his ability to bring disparate views together.”

Stoffa’s positive legacy as Northampton County executive can be found all over Northampton County in parks and open and green spaces.

McClure credited Stoffa for encouraging the modern perspective on environmentalism, particularly with farm and land preservation. “Everyone was for farm preservation,” he said, “but support for open space, particularly environmentally-sensitive land preservation was a thing he spearheaded into the public consciousness. Today there’s mostly broad support across ideological spectrum for preservation for its own safe. And that was not the case before John Stoffa.”

Former Liberty HS Alumni Band Director Ron Sherry called Stoffa an excellent trumpet player and a tremendous supporter of the cummunity. “He was always willing to help out with projects – lining up concerts the county or other organizations. He did a lot of things beyond the call of duty.

“He was a very fine gentleman.”