Stan was born on January 17‚ 1941‚ to Melvel and Martha (Zuidema) Giles in Muskegon‚ Michigan‚ and grew up in Arizona. He had one younger sister‚ Sandy. After graduating from Santa Cruz Valley High School in Casa Grande‚ Arizona‚ he joined the Air Force with the intention of making that his career. He was trained as a jet mechanic and sent back to the upper peninsula of Michigan for his duty station. He was a firm believer that if you were raised in the desert and used to the heat‚ the military would send you to cold country to cool you down. He was injured while on duty‚ sent to Illinois for treatment and evaluation of the injury‚ and discharged for medical reasons.

In 1965‚ he married Frances (Fran) Watson. They moved to Tulsa‚ Oklahoma‚ where their son‚ Robert‚ was born in 1967. Stan worked for Ford Distributing as a route salesman. In 1970‚ they moved to Arkansas‚ where he was a volunteer deputy sheriff for the White County Sheriff’s Department and a route salesman for Wonder Bread. In 1974‚ he moved the family to Overland Park‚ Kansas‚ after taking a position with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company as a service manager. During his 17 years with Goodyear‚ he was promoted to district automotive service manager‚ covering four states.

After leaving Goodyear‚ he taught auto mechanics at the Area Vocational Training School in the Kansas City‚ Kansas‚ school district where he was chosen ‘Teacher of the Year’ his last year of teaching. Then he and Fran moved to Linn Valley Lakes so Stan could play golf and fish if he wasn’t on the golf course. He decided he would join the Linn Valley Lakes Volunteer Fire Department to have something to do when he wasn’t playing golf and while Fran was at work during the day. He spent over ten years in the department‚ including eight years as fire chief. During his tenure as fire chief‚ he helped the department grow from just a few to approximately 18 volunteers‚ added two newer fire trucks‚ replaced worn out equipment‚ introduced First Responder training to the force‚ worked with the county fire director to get his firefighters certified‚ and assisted the community in offering fire safety programs for the residents. Stan was looking forward to attending his grandson Brenden’s Eagle Scout ceremony in Cincinnati in 2012.

Everyone knew Stan‚ and if they needed anything they could call him and he would come. From getting skunks out from under the porch to putting out house fires‚ he was always there. His family and his community miss him greatly.