Individual Details

Nickname:<NICK> Stan BIOGRAPHY: Born in Spokane, Washington, he wa s one of the three children of Walter Earl Kochenderfer and Emma Hend erson, and the grandso n of David Henry Kochenderfer and Lue Nettie Ha ller. His grade school years we re spent in Walla Walla, Washington , where his father worked as a salesman for the National Cash Registe r Company. He remembered the day when Charles Lindber gh, having compl eted his solo trans-Atlantic flight, flew over his grade school in Wa lla Walla. A favorite hobby was making model airplanes and at the ag e of 10 he won a contest with a model of Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Lo uis." The pr ize for winning: his first airplane flight. That was th e beginning of a lifelo ng love of aviation. He also loved the sea an d traveled around the world at th e age of 17 as a purser's assistan t aboard one of the ships of the Dollar Line. He soloed in his teen s at an airfield in Redwood City. Later, as a salesman for the Burrou ghs Adding Machine Company, he moved to Santa Rosa, California an d st udied for his commercial pilot's license at a flight school. The comin g of World War II drove civil aviation inland, and the operation wa s moved to Ely, Nevada, where Stan assisted in establishing and eventu ally took over, flight sc hool training for Navy Pilots. The end of W orld War III marked his return to S anta Rosa and the development of t he Santa Rosa School of aviation. It was dur ing this time that he me t Jane O'Neil who was working as a secretary in Santa R osa. In 194 7 he bought a 60-foot sailboat, the "Mollilou", which was docked at S ausalito, California for three years during preparations for a voyag e to the South Pacifica. The ship, with Stan and its crew, set sail i n October 1950. T hey wintered in Honolulu and sailed on to the Sout h Pacific in May 1951. The m any adventures of the "Mollilou" and it s motley crew were chronicled by Stan an d his crewmates in the Sant a Rosa Press Democrat, and the memories of this trip always remaine d fresh. When the ship returned to Hilo, he called Jane in Sant a Ros a and asked if she would meet him in Honolulu to be married. They wer e ma rried five days later on November 6, 1951. Son Ross was born i n the Territory of Hawaii in 1952 and the following year Stan took a j ob with Transaocean Airli nes. The family moved to Jordan in the Midd le East and then to Lebanon, where Stan worked as a manager for Air Jo rdan, a subsidiary of Transocean. Carol and John were born in Berut . Returning to the states in 1956, they were living Sa nta Rosa whe n Helen was born, and eventually relocated to Alamo, California in 195 8. Bill and Mary Ellen were born in Walnut Creek, California during t hese e arly years after he set up International Aviation Development C orporation. The company had many outposts in the Middle East and Nort h Africa over the next se veral decades primarily serving the oil comp anies at their exploration sites in the desert. The family moved t o the island of Malta in 1967 when a maintenanc e base was created the re to serve planes operating in the region. Susan was bo rn in 1969 . Stan retired from the business in 1976 and the family returned to A lamo, California, but he remained interested and involved in the aviat ion busi ness and spent many years pursuing his interest in computers . Stan was a lovin g and devoted husband and father. He was a consumm ate host who enjoyed enterta ining his many friends. He was a natura l storyteller whose humor and adventure s captivated friends and famil y alike. He lived his life with passion and inte grity and that is ho w we (the family) will remember him. Source: Memorial Serv ice Stanle y R. Kochenderfer, February 20, 1999.

Birth	Dec 9, 1914	Spokane, Washington
Death	Feb 18, 1999	Contra Costa, California

Spouse	Living O'Neil ( - )
Child	Living Kochenderfer ( - )
Child	Living Kochenderfer ( - )

Father	Walter Earl Kochenderfer Sr. (1886 - 1970)
Mother	Emma Henderson ( - 1951)
Sibling	Maxine Kochenderfer (1911 - 1993)
Sibling	Walter Earl Kochenderfer Jr. (1923 - )