Floyd Martin Stork

Floyd Martin Stork, 94, died Tuesday, January 31st, 2017 at the Inland Christian Home in Ontario California.

He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Phyllis (Henningsen) Stork; his son Ronald Stork; his son Allen Stork and his wife Judy Junkman and their son Peter Stork.

He was born on a farm outside of Arlington, Nebraska, the son of Martin and Helena (Laaker) Stork. He grew up helping on the farm with his two brothers and two sisters. He attended school in Arlington, where he was part of a 1940 state championship baseball team where his skill as a left-handed pitcher earned him the nickname “Lefty.” He attended the University of Nebraska until the outbreak of the war.

During the war, he served in the US Army with the rank of Master Sergeant in charge of a radar and microwave communications unit. He served in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, including the Anzio invasion, and in southern France and Germany.

After the war he returned to Nebraska and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1947, majoring in History and Physical Education, and a master’s degree in School Administration in 1948. He did further postgraduate work at UCLA until he was hired to teach 6th grade at Alta Loma School.

He worked for the Alta Loma School District as a teacher, principal, and superintendent for 34 years, 25 years as superintendent. During this time the school population grew from 160 to just under 8,000 and they built 10 new schools.

He met his wife Phyllis, who was a fellow teacher at Alta Loma, and they were married in 1952 at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Ontario, California. He was an active member of the church community until his death. He and Phyllis lived in the same home in Upland for more than sixty years where he was an avid gardener of fruits, vegetables and flowers.

After his retirement in 1985 he still worked part time for the Alta Loma School district, for Wolf-Lange-Christopher Architects, where he worked with clients to arrange funding to build schools, and with the group Californians for Adequate School Housing (CASH) to work with the state to help build schools throughout California. He was also involved with the Kiwanis, and served on the San Bernardino County Civil Service Commission from 1991 until 2014.

There will be a memorial service at Redeemer Lutheran Church, 920 W 6th Street, Ontario on March 4th at 1:00 PM.