Ronald "Ren" Phalen Stimart

Reynold (Ren) Phalen Stimart passed away on January 19, 2026, in McLean, Virginia. He was the son of the late Clifford Herman Stimart and Mary Elizabeth Hoyle Stimart. Born October 31, 1944, in St. Paul, Minnesota, Ren graduated from Chicago City High School in Chicago City, Minnesota. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Minnesota and later received a master’s degree in quantitative methods from the University of Virginia where he was a research associate and pursued additional studies toward a Doctorate. Ren subsequently taught at the University of Miami and later was an adjunct professor at Marymount College. Over the course of his career, he held positions in information systems and product engineering, user interface design and Six Sigma Methodology for quality assurance at Xerox Corporation, GE Information Services and at MITRE Corporation, from which he retired in 2014.

Ren attended McLean Baptist Church in McLean, Virginia. He was devoted to his family and friends and loved traveling. At the age of twelve, after his father passed away, Ren lived on farms in Minnesota and learned to fish, hunt, farm and repair equipment when needed. He spent summers hitchhiking around the country and built a store of remarkable experiences with which he entertained family and friends. Ren never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Beloved by his family and friends as a wise, kind, dependable, man of integrity and humor he is survived by his wife of forty-eight years, Susan Merritt Stimart, his sons and their spouses, Kenneth Stimart and Kelli Beth Stimart, Matthew Stimart and Susan Cummings Stimart, Zachary Stimart and Amanda Grabloski Stimart, and daughter Megan Stimart Hart and her spouse Timothy Hart. Ren is also survived by grandchildren Christine Stimart, Wren Hart, Lucy Hart, Logan Stimart, and Hailey Stimart; great-grandchildren Vincent Geiger and Hannah Goo; brother Joseph Stimart and his spouse Laurie Stimart; sisters-in-law and brothers-in law: Kay-Lyn Merritt, Shirley and Robert Boe, John and Susannah Merritt, Scott and Barbara Merritt, Bettye and Stan Garrett, Michele Meinhart and Lew McClung, Teresa Merritt and Daniel Zuniga, Leo Abbott, Al Yelle; and numerous nieces and nephews and grand nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sisters Virgina Stimart Abbott and Susan Stimart Yelle and brother-in-law Stephen Russell Merritt.

Funeral services and burial will be held at Union Christian Church in Madison Heights, Virginia, at 11:00 am on February 14, 2026.

In lieu of flowers the family requests contributions to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, The Dementia Society of America, or The American Cancer Society.

Tharp Funeral Home, Lynchburg, is assisting the family.