Stanley Haggett died peacefully, of natural causes, with his beloved wife Jane at his side, in the early hours of April 24th, just short of his 97th birthday. Stanley was born on May 26, 1920 in Pontnewydd, South Wales. He went to the local church school and from there won a scholarship to Jones West Monmouth Public School in Pontypool.

In 1939 he joined a division of The Bristol Aeroplane Company (B.A.C.) to learn about Blenheim bombers and to repair aeroplanes. During WW II, he went with a small team to RAF stations on the east coast of England and Scotland to repair coastal command and fighter command aircraft.

After the war he was sent to South Africa to demonstrate B.A.C. aircraft to the South African Airforce, after which he worked at a major repair base in Cardiff as an engineer. In 1947 he was posted to Paris as the Bristol Aeroplane Company representative in France, where he lived for four years.

Because of his fluency in French he was then sent to Canada by B.A.C to form the Bristol Aeroplane Company of Canada, during which time he lived in Winnipeg and Montreal, and eventually became its President. During this period, one of his many challenges was to try to sell the Bristol aircraft Britannia to the Hughes Aircraft Company and had to fly with Howard Hughes on many test flights.

B.A.C., together with other companies, was absorbed by Rolls Royce at which time Stanley was invited back to England to work for Rolls Royce. Stanley did not want to return to England and so he took over the assets of BAC Canada and formed his own company in Dorval, Quebec, called General Aviation Services, to service international airlines. At the same time he formed another company called General Aviation Sales and became the sales representative in Canada for British Aerospace and Westland Helicopters.

Stanley was a founding member of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada and was eventually elected its Chairman. He received high praise for his work in the association and for his work with senior Ministers of the Canadian Government in bringing the work of Canada's aerospace industry to the Government's attention.

He finally sold General Aviation Services to Hudson General, a servicing company based in New York, for whom he continued working for the next ten years. Subsequently, he left Hudson General and joined The Allied Maintenance Corporation of New York. In 1982, Allied merged into the Ogden Allied Corporation and Stanley held a senior executive position in that company. He continued consulting for Ogden until his retirement in 1995.

Jane and Stanley bought a house in Stowe in 1973 and moved permanently from Montreal to Stowe in 1988. Stanley was an avid sportsman. He was passionate about tennis and won the Welsh under 18 junior championship. He continued playing tennis until his late 80's. He also loved to play squash. His other passion was skiing and he skied in Stowe, the western USA and Europe for many years. He also went heli-skiing in the Bugaboos in western Canada. He loved working outside on his property in Stowe. He and Jane loved to travel and they visited many countries throughout the world and often went on cruises. Latterly, they spent many warm winters in Florida.

Survivors include his wife Jane with whom he shared nearly 47 wonderful years of marriage; his daughter Susan McGillivray (artist) by his first wife Betty MacKimmie, both of Victoria, BC; a granddaughter Jennifer, of Calgary, Alberta and two great-granddaughters, Camille and Olivia. Survivors also include the family of his adopted brother, Dennis, who live in Southampton, England. The family wishes to thank Dr. David Bisbee, the staff at Lamoille Home Health and Hospice and all the caregivers who helped Stanley remain in his own home during the last years of life.

As per Stan's express wishes, there will be no formal services. Please remember him while sipping a glass of fine wine! In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory to Lamoille Home Health and Hospice, Copley Hospital Foundation or Stowe Rescue would be appreciated. The family requests no flowers.

Faith Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be made by visiting faithfh.net