Glenn Stafford

Glenn Stafford, 84, of Wildwood MO, passed away on Sunday May 5, 2024. Glenn was born on March 18, 1940, on a farm three miles east of Marshall, Minnesota. He was raised in the area by his parents Walter Lee and Edna Stafford together with his three brothers: older brother Melvin Stafford and his two younger brothers, Nile Stafford and Daryl Stafford. Glenn served in the Minnesota National Guard and then pursued and received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from South Dakota State College (the “Jackrabbits”). Glenn moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after graduating in June 1963 to work at the McDonnel Aircraft Company. In 1967, he became an aerospace engineer working for either the Navy or Air Force in Defense Contract Management until he retired at 74 years old in 2014.

Glenn enjoyed reading and collecting, and had a passion for his family, history, genealogy, and wildlife. He enjoyed traveling with his wife, Sherry, to visit libraries across the country searching for clues to his family’s heritage, which included his exciting discovery that the Stafford’s are a first family of Kentucky. They often visited the nearby Missouri State Parks to see the local wildlife. Glenn has an extensive collection of coins, which he methodically gathered throughout his life. Most of all, he was always focused on his family, ever ready to help and provide thoughtful guidance, and everyone who met him found him to be gentle, kind and affable with a wonderful smile.  Being the first person from his family to graduate from college, he was enormously proud of his children’s and grandchildren’s education and success.   

He was united in marriage with Sherry Ann Mildenstein on July 24, 1965, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Hannibal, Missouri. Together, Glenn and Sherry had three children: Stephen Thomas Stafford, Susan Elizabeth Stafford, and Jeffrey Lee Stafford. 

He is survived by his beloved wife of 58 years, Sherry Stafford, of Wildwood, MO; their children: Stephen Stafford and his wife Jill (Saenger) Stafford of Larchmont, NY, Susan (Stafford) Sefers and her husband Scott of Nashville, TN, and Jeff Stafford and his wife Cherie (Fulk) Stafford of Phoenix, AZ; and four grandchildren: Thomas, Chloe and Libby Stafford and Sam Sefers.  

Services: Funeral Mass at Holy Infant Catholic Church, 627 Dennison Dr, Ballwin, Friday, May 10, 2024, at 12:30 p.m. Interment Holy Family Catholic Cemetery, Hannibal. In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to the Parkinson's Foundation or the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. As a service of the SCHRADER Funeral Home and Crematory, friends may sign the family’s on-line guestbook at Schrader.com.