By Barbara Palmgren
Every so often you meet an icon. Someone who inspires and leaves lessons for the ages. I had that distinct pleasure when I met with Stan to reminisce about a life well lived.
Stan lives with daughter Nancy Kilgore and husband Ray Kilgore in Shalimar Pointe in my neighborhood. Stan spends most sunny days sitting outside of the garage in his walker, available to greet an talk with anyone who passes by and needs a few words of wisdom, humor, or advice.
My husband, Lornie, had already stopped to present a few balloons in the morning to Stan and returned home with a few tears in his eye. When I visited Stan later in the day, he was busy on the phone. Lots of folks phoning to give birthday wishes.
With a smile on his face and agreeing to share special stories we talked for a long time. A few highlights of that interview are now shared.
Stan was born in a small town of Hulet, Virginia. He tried to find the little town years ago but could only locate a place where there was a cross in the road. Stan remembers growing up on a 150 acre farm near Fredericksburg, Virginia. Stan never left the farm until he was in his 20’s. With a large family of six children, Stan was busy working on a farm that raised all sorts of fruits and vegetables. He walked two miles to a one-room school house and his teacher walked even further. She would be seen going by the farm and every so often Stan’s father would call out, “Boys aren’t going to be in school today. They have work to do here.”
At the onset of World War II, Stan and his younger brother went to enlist. The brother was recruited but Stan was rejected. At 24 years of age, Stan was almost blind. He had cataracts and a peripheral vision issue.
Undeterred and patriotic, Stan and several friends, boarded a train from the east and headed to Detroit, Michigan to work in a factory manufacturing aircraft wings to be used on aircraft that would land on a navy carrier. He said the wings use to fold up. It was for him, an amazing adventure. Male workers were appreciated to help alongside women who were now part of the work force. We know about the “Rosie Riveters”, needed to build necessary machines and equipment to win the war.
When peace returned, Stan was back in the Washington D.C. area living in a boarding house with his brother, Walt. Both sons went home to Virginia on Sundays to get a good meal from mother and visit mom and dad. One Sunday they met two women who had traveled by bus from the city to visit one of the lady’s children. Stan’s mother fostered over 65 children in her lifetime and this mother was visiting the farm to see her children. Both women worked at the Pentagon. The mother couldn’t afford care for her children so Stan’s mother helped her. The ladies were going to take the bus back to the city when Stan’s brother offered them a ride back in a 1937 Chevy Coupe. Only problem, one lady would have to sit on his lap. You could seat three people across in the one long seat of the car.
That ride back led to all four of them having dinner and eating chili at a nearby restaurant across from the Capitol. One woman, Virginia, gave Walt her phone number in case they wanted to see the Pentagon. Both ladies roomed at the YMCA. A few days later, Walt enlisted in the US Army and he gave Stan this phone number. Stan phoned and asked Virginia out on a date. This date later turned into a 65-year marriage.
Stan was so proud of Virginia. She had more education than Stan who did not attend high school. He said his father raised the boys to understand that “horses and hands” are what’s needed to ensure success on the farm. Virginia, born in Illinois, graduated from high school, taking a Civil Service exam to work for the government. Virginia scored so high she was immediately hired and traveled after graduation for a job at the Pentagon.
Stan had various jobs in the Washington DC area and retired working for RL Polk, a printing plant that produced items such as city directories. He and Virginia traveled everywhere in an RV during retirement, visiting bother Walt in Central Florida and Ray and Nancy near US AirForce bases in California and Arizona.
So now, in 2025, after talking about all the changes in technology he had seen over his lifetime, I asked Stan what he thought the most valuable lesson in life should be shared with the younger generation. Stan answered immediately that “common sense and will power is what will do you the most good.” Stan thought that all the education in the world doesn’t help if someone has no common sense and will power.
How can you argue with that? I certainly marvel at a lesson learned for all of us.
