Mr. Stanley W Ahlquist

Stanley Winston Ahlquist passed from our lives on February 3, 2016. Born on October 17, 1927, in Worcester, Massachusetts, he attended Commerce High School and graduated as valedictorian at age 17. Because he wanted a career in the Navy, he enlisted in the service after completing high school, and spent the next three years falling in love with naval aviation. To become a pilot, he needed an advanced education and left the Navy to attend Clark University as well as Worcester Tech. After receiving his college degree, Stan re-enlisted in the Navy and completed Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida. With his new rank of Ensign, he stayed on at the Pensacola Naval Air Station and quickly received his wings and briefly taught there as a flight instructor. He then served 26 years as a naval aviator and retired as a Commander. Stan distinguished himself early on in his career, and while stationed in Whidbey Island, Wash., his squadron was responsible for flying observational aircraft during the testing of the first hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Islands. He had tours of duty in antisubmarine warfare and was instrumental in the design and function of the P-3 Orion aircraft used in electronic surveillance. Stan was known for his dedicated and serious approach to his military career, but when approached by an eager design engineer working on the P-3, he showed a more humorous side. Struggling with a certain design and space problem for the crew ejection process, a young engineer approached Stan and presented his plan to have the flight crew eject downward in case of an unrecoverable in-flight emergency. Without missing a beat, Stan gave his experienced opinion: “How is that going to work, when the mission profile often includes flying less than 50 feet over the water? I recommend up!” During much more serious times Stan served as executive officer and aviator of VQ-1 Squadron from 1965-1968 in Atsugi, Japan. He served three tours during the Vietnam War and among the many medals given to him, he was awarded the Bronze Star in 1979. Returning stateside from Japan, he completed his naval career at the Pentagon and, after retiring, he and his family moved to St. Pete Beach, Florida. By his side, almost from the time Stan graduated from high school, was his wife, Dorothy. The two secretly married on June 11, 1952, in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The Navy had strict rules regarding junior officers getting married, and rather than risk getting turned down, the two decided to elope. Married almost 64 years, Stan and Dot crisscrossed the country with the Navy, living in Washington, Virginia, Pennsylvania, California and finally Florida. Stan and Dot were blessed with two children, Karen, and Bryan. They began their lives as “military brats” and enjoyed traveling to the many Navy bases where Stan was stationed. Once Stan retired from the Navy, he did not stay idle for long. Florida-living in the early 70’s meant a growing real estate market, and after getting his real estate license, he got to work setting sales records for a broker near where they lived in St Pete Beach. Because Stan was more attuned to being at the helm, he switched careers and finished the working part of his life as a manager for a beverage distributor. After retiring for good, and moving to Palm Harbor, Florida, Stan and Dot became active in their children’s lives as both Karen and Bryan married and presented them with grandchildren. Karen has two teenage daughters; Katie and Hayley. Bryan and his wife Robin have two teenage daughters; Raquel and Sydney. Stan was one of three brothers. The eldest brother, Merton Ahlquist passed away in 2011 at age 93 and is survived by Harold Ahlquist, 90 who presently resides in Holden, Massachusetts. Dot Ahlquist will continue to reside in Florida.