When their engagement was announced in The Times, Stearn was vastly amused to see that he was described as a "Fellow of the Linen Society", a typographical error for Linnean Society.[5] Stearn was brought up an Anglican, but was a conscientious objector and after the Second World War he became a Quaker.[15] In his later years, following official retirement in 1976 he continued to live in Kew, Richmond.[2] His entry in Who's Who lists his interests as "gardening and talking".[17] He died on 9 May 2001 of pneumonia at Kingston Hospital, Kingston upon Thames, at the age of 90.[7][15][18] His funeral took place on 18 May at Mortlake crematorium.