John Hinchman Stokes Jr. was born December 27, 1909 to his parents Delia Stokes and John Hinchman Stoke Sr. Della Stokes stayed home to mother her three children: Stokes Jr., his brother Fredrick, and sister Lorene. Stokes Sr. was a physician, and professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Stokes Jr. grew up at Ann Arbor Ward 6, Washtenaw, Michigan (population: 28,380) and moved to Pennsylvania later in life. He went to Swarthmore college and attained a degree in physiology, which would later determine his military career. Stokes Jr. married Bertha Pickard on September 7, 1935, they never had children. He supported the two of them as a real estate broker.

          When the war began Stokes Jr. was 29; he joined the U.S. Navy at 30, enlisting in Delaware county, Pennsylvania.

1940 US Federal Census: John Hinchman Stokes Jr. (The Year before the war)