Staman E. Hook

Staman Eugene Hook passed away Feb. 14, 2007, at Harbor Care, Regency on Whidbey in Oak Harbor at the age of 92. He was born in Oskaloosa, Iowa May 5, 1914 to Joel F. and Mary E. (Staman) Hook.

Staman was raised on a farm in Iowa until age 12 when his father became sheriff of Mahaska County and the family moved to Oskaloosa. He graduated from high school and went on to attend William Penn College. Staman was very interested in astronomy and even built his own telescope including hand grinding and silvering the mirror. He enjoyed playing the violin and was a member of the college orchestra. While attending college, Staman met Lois Reece and they were married in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Oct. 12, 1940.

Staman received his bachelor of arts degree from Iowa State University and following graduation, he was employed as a sales person by International Harvester. He and Lois lived in Ames, Iowa and then Council Bluffs. As farm equipment purchases declined rapidly early in World War II, Staman found employment with Goodyear Aircraft at Leitchfield, Ariz. Their first son, James was born in December, 1943 in Eldora, Ariz.

Staman enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force, where he completed his cadet training at New York University and received his degree as a meteorologist. He was assigned duty with a reconnaissance crew aboard B-24 bombers. He served with the occupational forces in the Philippines, Okinawa and Japan. He left active duty military service in July of 1946.

Immediately after the war, Staman was employed by United Airlines as a meteorologist at their operations center in Denver. He also served as a meteorologist and air reconnaissance officer for the Colorado Air National Guard. Their second son, Bill, was born May 1947 in Denver. The Korean War saw Staman recalled to active duty in 1953 and he was stationed at Pusan, Korea.

After Korea, he returned to his position with United Airlines in Denver. In 1961, Staman was one of 600 employees transferred to United Airlines headquarters in Chicago and he remained there until his retirement after 30 years of working weekly shift changes. In 1974, he retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel and in 1978, Staman and Lois left Barrington, Ill., and moved to Greenbank, where they became active in the Whidbey Island community. In 2004, they moved to Regency on Whidbey in Oak Harbor.

Staman was a member of the Coupeville United Methodist Church and the Coupeville Lions Club. In 1998-99 he received the Melvin Jones Fellow Award for dedicated humanitarian service from the International Lions Club and in 1996-97 he was voted Coupeville Lion of the Year.

He was always generous and eager to volunteer his time. As a young man, Staman served as advisor at summer camps in Iowa and on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma. He was also active as an advisor for the Boy Scouts of America. Both of Staman’s sons achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. He and Lois enjoyed music and they often played together, Staman on the violin and Lois on the piano or organ. They also enjoyed gardening, traveling and cruising the San Juan Islands in their boat with a group of friends they called the Greenbank navy.

Staman is survived by two sons and their spouses: James R. and Georgia Hook of Orange, Calif., and William G. and Sandra Hook of Seattle, and four grandchildren. Two of his four sisters also survive, Eleanor Else of Lawton, Minn., and Helen Shimer of Sunrise Beach, Mo. His beloved wife, Lois, preceded him in death in June of 2006.

Memorial services for Staman Hook will be held on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 1 p.m. at the Coupeville United Methodist Church with Pastor Mary Boyd officiating. Private family inurnment at Sunnyside Cemetery will precede the service. Arrangements were entrusted to Burley Funeral Chapel, Oak Harbor. Donations in his memory may be made to the Coupeville United Methodist Church or the Coupeville Lions Club.