Dr. Thomas A. Stanley, historian, world traveler, artisan, epicurean, entrepreneur, and gardener, died on October 28, 2026, after a courageous battle with cancer. Tom was born on March 23, 1946, in Berkeley, CA, soon after his parents, Dr. Charles J. and Mary Stanley, were repatriated to America, having been imprisoned during World War II in a Japanese civilian concentration camp in north China. When Tom was 10, the family moved to the Far East, where his father was a diplomat, first in the American embassy in Taiwan and then at the American consulate in Kobe, Japan. In Kobe, Tom attended the Canadian Academy high school; he obtained Eagle Scout rank in the Boy Scouts, played varsity basketball, and toured Japan extensively. From these early experiences in Taiwan and Japan, Tom developed a life-long interest in the Far East.

After graduating from Antioch College in 1969, Tom attended the University of Arizona for graduate work in history of the Far East. He received his Ph.D. in 1977 in pre-war Japanese History. His doctoral dissertation on the political figure Osugi Sakae was published by Harvard University Press in 1982.

While in graduate school in Arizona, Tom met Susan Kuyper, a graduate student in English and a musician; they married in 1978. For the next several years Tom had positions in Tokyo, Tucson, Singapore, and Canberra, Australia. Susan and Tom traveled extensively during these years. Their first son, Johnson, was born in Tokyo, and their second son, Bennett, in Singapore.

In 1987, the family moved to Hong Kong, where Tom was professor of Japanese history at Hong Kong University for the next 22 years. He lectured, worked collaboratively on a Masters course in South East Asian studies, and chaired the HKU History Department for several years. With his colleague Dick Irving, Tom began taking friends on the ancient Nakasendo imperial road from Kyoto to Tokyo; this became the WalkJapan tour company. This business grew extensively and was incorporated into the Road Scholar program.

In 2008 Tom and Susan retired from Hong Kong and moved to Pella, Iowa, Susan’s hometown, where they had already established a second home. In these last eighteen years Tom volunteered at the Pella Historical Society, where he worked with and mentored Dave Baker in cataloguing the exhibition of the Birdsall Collection of Delft china. He then became a miller at the Pella Historical Museum windmill. He also served on the buildings and grounds committee for the Second Reformed Church in Pella.

Retirement gave Tom the time to develop other long-held interests such as gardening, cooking, and woodworking. His ever-expanding summer garden provided interesting varieties of vegetables that he used, along with his own sourdough rye bread, in creating meals for family and guests. His interest in woodworking was inspired by the designs of the Japanese-American furniture architect, George Nakashima. Tom developed a particular expertise in crafting “live-edge” tables and cabinets. His most recent hobby was creating a worm farm for composting and enriching the garden. Tom and Susie also loved taking road trips around the country.

Dr. Thomas Stanley is survived by his wife Susan Kuyper; his son Johnson H.K. Stanley and wife Kelly Chau; his son J. Bennett K. Stanley; Tom’s brother, Charles and wife, Christian, and their family; Susan’s siblings Quentin Kuyper, R. Ellen Kuyper and Lois Kuyper-Rushing and their families; and by his many, many friends and neighbors whose lives have been enriched by Tom.