John Stelmach Tribute by Greg McElroy

John Stelmach, Theta (UConn) ’75, was a good man and loyal Zete, and can best be described as a Solitary Man.  He was a friend of mine and became one of Zeta Psi’s largest donors by way of a million-dollar-plus bequest that he directed to Zeta Psi Educational Foundation following his passing in 2024.

In my role as the principal administrator of Zeta Psi’s Annual Fund for many years, I was always motivated to meet as many of Zeta Psi’s high-end donors as possible.  After having received a few annual donations of over a thousand dollars from John, I decided to make his acquaintance, which was rather easy to do, since John lived in Brooklyn and worked in New York’s financial district.  While my first meeting with John was to thank him for his generous annual giving, he surprised me by telling me that he was in the process of updating his will.  He then told me it was his intention to direct a bequest to Zeta Psi that he told me would be an estimated million dollars.  Since he had not been listed as a member of the Zeta Psi Heritage Society at that time, he signed a Heritage Society Registration and Pledge Form in 2013 that formalized his extraordinary benefaction.

From that point on, I made efforts to engage John, not only as a significant donor to Zeta Psi, but as a friend.  So we would arrange lunches in Manhattan, and he attended a few annual Founders Day Dinners to interact with other Zetes in the New York Tri State area.  We would also exchange Christmas cards each year.  The last time we met together was in 2019 when we caught up for a lunch meeting.  But when the Covid pandemic hit in 2020, he became less communitive, so contact with John became challenging.  According to his twin brother Stan, John became reclusive and likely suffered from depression.

It was a shock to hear that John died in June 2024, as he was only 71 years old.  But since John had told me to contact his brother if and when he was to pass away, I began discussions with Stan, who was John’s estate’s executor.  Several weeks following John’s passing, a check for over $1 million was sent to Zeta Psi’s Headquarters, and his total bequest was about $1.3 million.  In addition, Stan asked me to meet at John’s apartment in Brooklyn to pack up and deliver hundreds of books—all related to the business of financial investments—that John had accumulated during his life.  John wanted to donate these hundreds of books to the IHQ as a kind of library for Zetes who wished to benefit from his knowledge and expertise in the investment business and to advance his keen interest in capital investments to other Zetes.  This was yet another indication of why this was his well-recognized nickname: “Wall Street John”.

His legacy and generosity will fund many programming initiatives for Zeta Psi Educational Foundation for generations to come, including annual scholarships to members of his Theta Chapter at the University of Connecticut.  Hail and Tau Kappa Phi to John Stelmach!

— Greg McElroy, Phi (NYU) ’70, Phi Alpha CXXXI