[3] In his early childhood, his family moved from Philadelphia to a farm in Fox Chase, Pennsylvania, where he grew up.
[5] His father and grandfather worked at the family business, Jacob Stern & Sons, where they were hides and tallow processors.
[5] Stern's mother was active in organizing Jewish summer camps for Philadelphia-area children.
She was involved in supporting the National Farm School (now the Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture), which was founded by her uncle Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf in 1896, and where her ashes are now interred.
The published statement said that the signatories were "opposing growing secularism and favoring greater emphasis on transcendent moral and religious values and principles in American life.
"[10] In 1943, Stern took a sabbatical from his position at Keneseth Israel to serve a Chaplain in the US Army Air Corps.
During this time, during World War II, Stern almost died when his plane crashed at Casablanca during a flight to India;[7][8] in a letter home to his father that was published in the local press, Stern said he felt lucky to have only broken an arm and a leg.
[11] During his time there, he completed his Doctor of Hebrew Letters in 1957 in American Jewish History under the tutelage of Dr. Jacob Rader Marcus.
[8] After leaving CCAR in 1980, Stern joined Hebrew Union College's faculty as adjunct professor, where he lectured in Jewish History.
[8] Hebrew Union President, Dr. Alfred Gottschalk, said Stern's "scholarship, his pioneering seminal research in American Jewish genealogy and writings remain a rich legacy and memorial.
Stern's interest in genealogy, he said, "started in grade school when he traced the descendants of Charlemagne for an assignment.
Stern was responsible for helping to establish the early Jewish genealogical societies in the United States.
[15] Alphabetical by organization Stern wrote the Ten Commandments for Genealogists,[2] which has become widely cited and is a cornerstone of Jewish genealogy.