Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Stinson attended the public schools and Grand Rapids Junior College for two years. He graduated in 1952 from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

He entered the executive training program of Westinghouse Electric Company. He enlisted in the United States Navy in January 1953, attended Officers' Candidate School and served until June 1956. He was employed with Westinghouse Electric Corp. in Seattle, Washington from 1956 to 1959. He was also a manufacturer's representative in the marine and sporting goods industry from 1959 to 1962.

Stinson was elected as a Republican to the Eighty-eighth Congress (January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1965). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1964 to the Eighty-ninth Congress.

He was a resident of Battle Ground, Washington before his death on January 9, 2002. Stinson died while vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with his wife and daughter.

  This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress