Thomas Spencer Stanton

Tom Stanton died peacefully on June 7, 2022, at the age of 92, from complications of Parkinson disease. He was born October 2, 1929 in Hartford, Connecticut to Thomas and Ellen (Davis) Stanton. He graduated from Milford High School before joining the U.S. Air Force. During a 20-year military career he was an aircraft navigator, deployed to the North Atlantic to perform air rescue missions in frigid conditions, to West Germany during the Cold War to conduct covert radio monitoring flights near Soviet airspace, and to South Vietnam to air drop supplies to U.S. Army Special Forces. He was among the last of the sextant-proficient celestial navigators prior to the advent of inertial guidance systems. While in the Air Force he studied meteorology at the University of Florida and later went on to obtain a bachelor's degree in Business and a master's degree in Safety. After retirement from the military he worked at a Japan Airlines flight training facility in Napa, where he was able to combine his aviation experience with his deep knowledge of weather conditions in the Bay Area and its micro-climates. He was particularly interested in flight safety issues affected by weather and by the hazards of birdstrikes. His enthusiasm for imparting his wisdom to the student pilots made him a revered figure and prompted him to continue teaching until the age of 77. He was a man of many interests throughout his life, including photography, hunting, sailing, carpentry and reading about the history of aviation. He was present at the birth of the mutual funds industry and became an early adopter of prudent investing strategies, ensuring a comfortable and independent retirement. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marjorie (Linkletter) Stanton, and his brother, Jack Stanton. He is survived by three sons (Thomas Stanton, Peter Stanton and David Stanton) and a grandson (Dean Stanton.) Internment to follow at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery at a yet-to-be-determined future date.