Regrettably Stan succumbed to cancer last Friday after an 8 year battle. As long as I have known Stan he has been battling, but you wouldn't have known...a beaming smile and a cheeky chuckle, coupled with his incredibly optimistic outlook on all things, no matter how negative. Stan was an incredibly kind and generous man only too happy to help others out especially if it involved cars and more so if that car was a hot rod.
At many swap meets car shows or hot rod gatherings you'd see Stan and his wife Ange. Stan would invariably be wearing his favourite Ford Blue jersey with Ford logo along with a huge smile as he walked toward you keen to find out how the project was progressing. He took a genuine interest in people and their lives.
Stan completed a huge amount of fibreglass work on my previous 33 Ford Coupe and it is only through talking to Stan, watching him at work and gleaning a few lessons from him along the way that I have been able to tackle the chopping, channeling and sectioning of my current build. Almost everything I know about working with fibreglass I owe to Stan.
Throughout this work on my previous Coupe, Stan would quote unreasonably good prices and would not accept a cent more no matter how much you insisted. A few times there I had to sneak cash into his gear while he was packing up without him knowing.
Stan was not only generous with his work, his time and his charge out rates, but when you asked for a few pointers he would often make recommendations and give you a few materials or fibreglassing consumables to try. He'd even pass on the likes of resin at the trade price he secured owing to the volumes he purchased. None of it was a problem to Stan....generous to a tee!
I am so glad that on one of these occasions Stan gave me a small fibreglass roller to not only use but to keep, again this is so typical of Stan. It has Stan's initials engraved into it and is something I will treasure and remember Stan by every time I break out the fibreglassing gear. Thanks Stan.
The picture above is of Stan's favourite jersey I mentioned earlier and a pic of Stan enjoying a beer with Ange in better times.
Below is a pic of Stan's Ford sedan which he used like a work horse.
Being a Ford man through and through there was only one brand of car to build for Ange his wife. This is her 34 Sedan making an appearance at the funeral service today.
I'm so sorry to hear about your good friend that passed away Colin, there are no words. I to have lost a good friend (Gary), and like yourself have learned a great deal from him. My thoughts and prayers go out to your family and his family in this time of need.
ReplyDelete