- Date Of Birth: May 16, 1918
- Date Of Death: March 7, 2016
- State: Michigan
Maynard H. Stimpson passed away on March 7, 2016 in Jacksonville, Florida. He was born May 16, 1918 in Kalamazoo, Michigan to Lavinia and Alonzo Stimpson. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marguerite (Vandenberg) Stimpson in November 2002 after sixty years of marriage. He was also preceded by his parents, brothers Bernard and Maurice and sisters Mary (Doornhaag), Maxine (Williams), Thelma (Vroegendewy) and Mildred (Price). He is survived by son David Stimpson, daughter-in-law Kathryn (Lucke) Stimpson, granddaughter Ann-Marie Kocher and her husband Wesley Kocher.
Maynard is a WWII veteran who served with the Eighth Army Air Force in both the European and Asian Theaters of Operation. He completed OCS and graduated just before the war’s end. He declined to re-up for two years to be commissioned and finished his term of service as TSgt in the Engineer Maintenance Squadron.
Maynard was a Tool and Die maker and retired from the Upjohn Company in 1976 after thirty-six years of service. He also worked for many years for Donald Gilmore in his silver shop and at the Gilmore Car Museum. He worked alongside Mr. Gilmore to restore the first Pierce-Arrow automobile for the museum and on many other auto restorations.
Maynard and Marguerite, known as “Bobbie” worked together to design and build a wonderful vacation home on the Manistee River and the family enjoyed the cabin for many years. Maynard enjoyed bowling and in 1991 re-activated his private pilot’s license flying for enjoyment until his 80th birthday. He also enjoyed volunteering as a docent at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo for 10-12 years.
