Stanley Shappell (94), beloved husband of Kiki Shappell, was born in Des Moines, Iowa but was brought to California soon afterward, making him a semi-native son. Stan spent an adventurous "Tom Sawyer" kind of boyhood in Los Angeles back when Bellona Creek was a free, natural stream and the Baldwin Hills were uninhabited and eminently explorable. His grandmother who helped raise him tried to tame him but didn't really succeed. His mother Mildred and his wonderful grandfather Asa Mercer encouraged his interest in science and "building stuff". He attended Dorsey High School when it was brand new, played tuba in the marching band, and generally had a good time. He entered UCLA in September of 1941 majoring in Chemistry and Girls. Of course, on December 7th, everybody's plans changed. Stan dropped out of UCLA and attempted to enlist in the Navy for submarine duty, but that required his mother's signature and she wouldn't sign, so he spent a year doing war work waiting for the draft call to come. When it did, he found himself trained as an Army Air Corps (later "Air Force") aviation electrician. Much to his disgust, he was put into a training squadron stateside and never got overseas. His squadron, however, made a powerful contribution by training "Tuskegee Airmen" and their ground crews, as well as some Free French and Polish groups.
After the war he met and married Sheila Christensen. Stan attended USC on the GI Bill and received a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 1951. While he was a student and working part time in a gas station to make ends meet, he and Sheila bought a house in the San Fernando Valley (GI Bill, of course) and enlarged their family with the birth of two beautiful daughters, Sherri and Stephanie. Stan enjoyed raising the girls and making a semi-rural life style possible for them on three acres in the middle of urban sprawl—"building stuff" such as a corral and barn for their pet burro and horse. He was a wonderful father and a surrogate Dad to many of the girls' friends. The marriage to Sheila ended after the girls were grown and had families of their own.
Stan started work at Lockeed Aircraft Company at Burbank straight from college and in the ensuing 34 years helped produce numerous aircraft and helicopter designs, starting with the "Constellation" and ending with the "Stealth Fighter" F116A. His area of specialization was Produce-ability; that is, working with the designers and draftsmen to ensure that their designs would be made well with the best production methods available. (During WWII the twin tail-booms of the famous P38 were so small that only midgets could fit inside to buck rivets—a hiring nightmare! Lockheed never made that mistake again.) Within that specialty, Stan was the castings and forgings expert.
In 1976, Stan met his wife Kiki and his lovely step-daughter Alison. Although Stan and Kiki both worked at Lockheed, they had never met. Stan had known who Kiki was for years (who wouldn't notice the only female engineer among thousands of males?). A mutual friend finally arranged a blind date. It was love at first sight, and stayed that way for 41 years. It was also the beginning of a life filled with travel and adventure. In 1983 they weighed the options of more money in the bank versus more travel and fun. Fun won. They built a house in Hawaii themselves (plus one carpenter and many out-of-work Pot-growers), and mastered the art of stretching travelling-money. In 1991 they moved back to the mainland "to be closer to the kids", as if the kids would stay put. Lompoc was picked as an affordable midpoint with a nearly perfect climate and the beauty of the central coast. The travel continued—from the South Pacific to northern Lapland, most of Europe and the Mediterranean, and a little bit of Central-America. Their last trip, when Stan was 91, was to the Chelsea Flower Show in London.
Stan died on November 28 at home and is survived by his devoted wife Kiki (aka Cecilia); sister Sanya Ford (Mrs. William Bill); daughters Sherri Shappell, Stephanie Schimmel (Mrs. Jay), Alison Fleck (Mrs. Metisse Krenicki); seven grandchildren; and 8 great-grandchildren. Stan was able to enjoy a love-filled visit with his nearest and dearest relatives and friends just a few days before the end. He died with those expression of gratitude and love fresh in his memory, and there will be no further memorial service.