Paul Stewart Stansbury

Paul was born to Graham and Edith Stansbury in St. Petersburg, Florida, on June 16, 1947, and passed away following a prolonged illness in Pasco, Washington, on February 10, 2026.

An academically-gifted student, Paul was also a devoted Boy Scout, advancing to their highest level of Eagle Scout and acquiring, among many other qualities, an amazing lifelong skill with knots. After high school, he attended Georgia Tech studying physics. A shoulder injury during a fraternity touch-football game ended his dreams of a career in the Air Force. Paul earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in physics, and completed his Ph.D. at Georgia Tech and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1977 in health physics (radiation protection).

Paul worked as a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health for 5 years until moving to Wilmington, North Carolina to join the General Electric nuclear fuel fabrication plant in 1982. He moved up to be a Section Leader at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in 1990, retiring from the Lab as a Staff Scientist after 20 years. He continued part-time work with Dade Moeller & Associates and NV|5 and at Washington State University for several years, retiring completely in 2016. Paul was very active in the Health Physics Society, serving on the Board of Directors and as Treasurer. Paul became a Certified Health Physicist in 1996, and went on to become President of the American Academy of Health Physics in 2011.

Paul was an insightful and patient teacher in many settings throughout his professional life, from radiation protection health physics at the graduate level, to teaching chess to many second-graders in Richland, and the game of bridge to anyone who was interested.

Paul and his first wife Dianne Stansbury had two children, who both inherited his genius brain and sense of humor, Anna Michelle Long and John Stansbury. During John’s visits they spent hours playing board games, driving each other with their competitive spirits. He and his daughter, Michelle, bonded over their shared love of skiing, the water, and the hot tub overlooking the river. In recent years his greatest joy came from visits with Michelle and her daughter.

In 2001, he married the love of his life, Nancy Jones Wildung. Nancy and Paul shared a great love of the outdoors. They led a beautiful life together full of camping, roadtrips, and spending lots of time with their neighbors who became family, the amazing Steve and Kathy Pfister. Paul and Nancy loved their adventures almost as much as they loved each other.

Paul is preceded in death by his wife, Nancy Stansbury (1942-2020) and his daughter Anna Michelle Long, (1954-2025).

Paul is survived by his son, John Stansbury; his granddaughter, Abigail Long; his stepdaughter, Jennifer Sands, and her husband, John, and their children, Brian and Kevin; his stepson, Mark Wildung, and his wife, Kristi, and their children, Claire and Beth; his siblings, Gwen Porch, Randy Stansbury, and Stan Defritas; and last but not least, his best friend, Dan Strom.

Special thanks to Kathy Pfister, an angel in the lives of all who know her, and especially in Paul’s later years.