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PROFILE OF A MUSEUM VOLUNTEER World War II in Europe was less
than three months old when on November 21, 1939,
Stan Wells was born in Fresno, California. Stan’s father Oren,
was a registered pharmacist, struggling to succeed in a new business. His
mother, Muriel, left her job as a telephone operator at Pacific Telephone and
Telegraph to be a full time mother and housewife.
Stan attended local schools,
Burroughs and Easterby elementary, before moving on
to Clovis Union High School, graduating in 1957. Following a year of “rest
and recuperation”, Stan began attending Fresno City College, later
transferring to Fresno State as an accounting major.
At the wedding of a good friend
in June, 1961, Stan was introduced to a young (very young) lady, Janice, who
would eventually play a large role in his life. One day in February, 1962,
after spending an hour in a large lecture hall at FSC listening to a
substitute professor talk about statistics, which seemed to confuse everyone,
including the professor, Stan cut his remaining classes, drove to the post
office in Fresno, and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.
Stan reported to the Federal
Building in San Francisco July 5, 1962, and was subsequently flown to San
Diego to begin boot training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Following
nearly six months of boot camp and infantry training, Stan received his first
leave. During his leave, Stan and Janice became engaged to be married.
On January 10, 1963, Stan
reported for duty at Camp Pendleton, California. He was assigned to Service
Company Headquarters Battalion (Rein), First Marine Division (Rein) FMF. With
four semesters of accounting under his belt, Stan was assigned to the “Office
of the Disbursing Officer”, First Marine Division. For the next two and a
half years Stan worked in the fiscal section, directly disbursing officers,
and himself rising to the rank of Corporal.
Following active service of two
years, eleven months and twenty-eight days (released two days early for the
convenience of the government), Stan returned to Fresno. In September, 1965
Stan returned to his studies at Fresno State as a Business Administration
major. Stan and Janice were married in October, 1965 and Stan was conferred a
Bachelor of Science degree in June, 1967. The newlyweds moved to San
Francisco where Stan began a career with the Emporium Department Store chain.
After seven years, he realized that retailing wasn’t really the career he
envisioned dedicating his life to, and the couple returned to Fresno in May,
1974. Stan worked in the wholesale grocery distribution business with United
Grocers, Fleming Foods, Certified Grocers and Unified Western Grocers,
spanning a 30 year career. Stan retired on December 1, 2005. Janice is in the
early days of new employment with Fresno County, and will be retiring in five
years when they expect to have free time to travel.
With his free time and a lifelong
interest in history; particularly World War II, it was a logical step for
Stan to gravitate to the Veterans Memorial Museum (Home of the Legion of
Valor) as a docent. In addition to docent duties, Stan spends time cataloging
and identifying uniforms and equipment at the museum. |
