J.W. Stanton, 78; Ex-World Bank Official, Ohio GOP Congressman

J. William Stanton, a former Republican congressman from Ohio who championed world banking and hunger issues for nearly two decades, has died. He was 78.

Stanton died of undisclosed causes Thursday at St. Luke’s Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla. He spent the winter months in the city.

He served in Congress from 1964 to 1983, then served a decade as counselor to the president of the World Bank. “He was a mentor to me and someone that I sought out for advice constantly,” said Rep. Steve LaTourette, a fellow Republican who now represents Stanton’s northeast Ohio district.

In Congress, Stanton was a key member of what was then called the House Banking Committee, on which he was the top Republican.

He was born in Painesville, Ohio, where his father, Frank, was an early employee of Ford Motor Co. The Stanton family later operated J.W. Stanton Motors Inc.

Stanton was in the Army during World War II, serving in the Pacific, and was discharged with the rank of captain. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Georgetown University after the war and returned to Ohio to run the family’s automobile business. He then became involved in county politics.

“When I ran for county commissioner in Lake County in 1956, I hadn’t even decided whether I was a Democrat or a Republican,” Stanton told the Cleveland Plain Dealer in 1992. “My grandfather would have turned over in his grave to know I became a Republican.”

Stanton said the most exciting part of his career came after he left Congress and began traveling the world for the Washington-based World Bank, which helps establish credit for poor countries that need schools and hospitals.

He is survived by his wife, Peggy, and a daughter, Kelly Marie.