Retired Brigadier General Stanley W. Hemstreet, former commander for the Stratton Air National Guard Base in Scotia, NY, passed away after a short illness on Sunday, January 20, 2008, surrounded by his large and loving family. Born in Schaghticoke on May 22, 1925, the son of Edna Wendt Hemstreet and Ellsworth Hemstreet, Gen. Hemstreet lived on his family farm on Hemstreet Road in Schaghticoke all of his life. He graduated in 1943 from Hoosic Valley High School – then known as Schaghticoke High School - and immediately joined the US Army Air Corps for flight training. He graduated from pilot training as a Second Lieutenant in April 1945. From 1946 to 1948, he attended Spartan School of Aeronautics in Oklahoma, then returned to Schaghticoke.
General Hemstreet retired as Base Commander of the 109th Airlift Wing of the Air National Guard in Scotia in 1985, having started 37 years earlier as the third person to be hired at the base. His first assignment was as an aircraft engine mechanic. His later roles included Unit Supply Officer; Base Supply, Property and Fiscal Officer; and Chief of Maintenance. He then became Director of Operations, and in 1971 became Base Commander. As commander, Gen. Hemstreet was instrumental in bringing the C-130 "ski birds" to the 109th, which took on the mission of providing fuel and supplies to US outposts in Greenland, and later the mission of supplying South Pole Station in Antarctica. In a ceremony held on October 13th of last year, the 109th honored Gen. Hemstreet's distinguished service to the unit by naming a main road on the base Hemstreet Highway.
Over the course of his career he flew the F-47 Thunderbolt and F-51 Mustang fighters, the C-47 and C-97 transports, the T-33 jet trainer, the F-80 and F-86 fighter jets, and the C-130 transport (in both airdrop and ski-equipped models). He also became an instructor and flight examiner for both the C-97 and C-130.
Among the many highlights of his career, he was the aircraft commander for the first plane to arrive in Berlin as part of the 1961 Berlin Call-up. He also flew many missions into Vietnam during the Vietnam War. When he retired he had set the Air Force record as the pilot with the longest time on flying status, forty two years, and had logged more than 10,000 flying hours.
In civilian life, he was a very active member of the Schaghticoke community, serving as President of the Hoosic Valley School Board and a long-standing member of the Hoosic Valley Volunteer Fire Company. He also was one of the original organizers of the Willard Mountain Ski Area, and President for the past twenty years of the Knickerbocker Historical Society, working to preserve the Knickerbocker Mansion. He was also an active farmer throughout his life, running the family farm in Schaghticoke until his death.
His proudest accomplishment, however, was his family. He was predeceased by his sister Ruth Jean Hemstreet Burton and his granddaughter Emma Elizabeth Durrant. He is survived by his wife of nearly sixty years, Aileen Aldrich Hemstreet; five children, Stana Iseman and husband Robert, Aileen Durrant and husband John, Leslie Allen and husband Eric, Steven Hemstreet and wife Joanne, and Hollie McNeil and husband Michael, and seventeen grandchildren: Robert, Nathan and wife Jeannie, Rebeckah, Christine, Susan, Scott, and John Iseman; Gregory and Alida Durrant; Robin, Eben, Ethan, and Clayton Allen; Jacob Hemstreet; and Alex Andrea, Sean, and Maxwell McNeil; and several nieces and nephews.
Gen. Hemstreet will be buried with full military honors at Elmwood Cemetery in Schaghticoke.
General Hemstreet retired as Base Commander of the 109th Airlift Wing of the Air National Guard in Scotia in 1985, having started 37 years earlier as the third person to be hired at the base. His first assignment was as an aircraft engine mechanic. His later roles included Unit Supply Officer; Base Supply, Property and Fiscal Officer; and Chief of Maintenance. He then became Director of Operations, and in 1971 became Base Commander. As commander, Gen. Hemstreet was instrumental in bringing the C-130 "ski birds" to the 109th, which took on the mission of providing fuel and supplies to US outposts in Greenland, and later the mission of supplying South Pole Station in Antarctica. In a ceremony held on October 13th of last year, the 109th honored Gen. Hemstreet's distinguished service to the unit by naming a main road on the base Hemstreet Highway.
Over the course of his career he flew the F-47 Thunderbolt and F-51 Mustang fighters, the C-47 and C-97 transports, the T-33 jet trainer, the F-80 and F-86 fighter jets, and the C-130 transport (in both airdrop and ski-equipped models). He also became an instructor and flight examiner for both the C-97 and C-130.
Among the many highlights of his career, he was the aircraft commander for the first plane to arrive in Berlin as part of the 1961 Berlin Call-up. He also flew many missions into Vietnam during the Vietnam War. When he retired he had set the Air Force record as the pilot with the longest time on flying status, forty two years, and had logged more than 10,000 flying hours.
In civilian life, he was a very active member of the Schaghticoke community, serving as President of the Hoosic Valley School Board and a long-standing member of the Hoosic Valley Volunteer Fire Company. He also was one of the original organizers of the Willard Mountain Ski Area, and President for the past twenty years of the Knickerbocker Historical Society, working to preserve the Knickerbocker Mansion. He was also an active farmer throughout his life, running the family farm in Schaghticoke until his death.
His proudest accomplishment, however, was his family. He was predeceased by his sister Ruth Jean Hemstreet Burton and his granddaughter Emma Elizabeth Durrant. He is survived by his wife of nearly sixty years, Aileen Aldrich Hemstreet; five children, Stana Iseman and husband Robert, Aileen Durrant and husband John, Leslie Allen and husband Eric, Steven Hemstreet and wife Joanne, and Hollie McNeil and husband Michael, and seventeen grandchildren: Robert, Nathan and wife Jeannie, Rebeckah, Christine, Susan, Scott, and John Iseman; Gregory and Alida Durrant; Robin, Eben, Ethan, and Clayton Allen; Jacob Hemstreet; and Alex Andrea, Sean, and Maxwell McNeil; and several nieces and nephews.
Gen. Hemstreet will be buried with full military honors at Elmwood Cemetery in Schaghticoke.
Retired Brigadier General Stanley W. Hemstreet, former commander for the Stratton Air National Guard Base in Scotia, NY, passed away after a short illness on Sunday, January 20, 2008, surrounded by his large and loving family. Born in Schaghticoke on May 22, 1925, the son of Edna Wendt Hemstreet and Ellsworth Hemstreet, Gen. Hemstreet lived on his family farm on Hemstreet Road in Schaghticoke all of his life. He graduated in 1943 from Hoosic Valley High School – then known as Schaghticoke High School - and immediately joined the US Army Air Corps for flight training. He graduated from pilot training as a Second Lieutenant in April 1945. From 1946 to 1948, he attended Spartan School of Aeronautics in Oklahoma, then returned to Schaghticoke.
General Hemstreet retired as Base Commander of the 109th Airlift Wing of the Air National Guard in Scotia in 1985, having started 37 years earlier as the third person to be hired at the base. His first assignment was as an aircraft engine mechanic. His later roles included Unit Supply Officer; Base Supply, Property and Fiscal Officer; and Chief of Maintenance. He then became Director of Operations, and in 1971 became Base Commander. As commander, Gen. Hemstreet was instrumental in bringing the C-130 "ski birds" to the 109th, which took on the mission of providing fuel and supplies to US outposts in Greenland, and later the mission of supplying South Pole Station in Antarctica. In a ceremony held on October 13th of last year, the 109th honored Gen. Hemstreet's distinguished service to the unit by naming a main road on the base Hemstreet Highway.
Over the course of his career he flew the F-47 Thunderbolt and F-51 Mustang fighters, the C-47 and C-97 transports, the T-33 jet trainer, the F-80 and F-86 fighter jets, and the C-130 transport (in both airdrop and ski-equipped models). He also became an instructor and flight examiner for both the C-97 and C-130.
Among the many highlights of his career, he was the aircraft commander for the first plane to arrive in Berlin as part of the 1961 Berlin Call-up. He also flew many missions into Vietnam during the Vietnam War. When he retired he had set the Air Force record as the pilot with the longest time on flying status, forty two years, and had logged more than 10,000 flying hours.
In civilian life, he was a very active member of the Schaghticoke community, serving as President of the Hoosic Valley School Board and a long-standing member of the Hoosic Valley Volunteer Fire Company. He also was one of the original organizers of the Willard Mountain Ski Area, and President for the past twenty years of the Knickerbocker Historical Society, working to preserve the Knickerbocker Mansion. He was also an active farmer throughout his life, running the family farm in Schaghticoke until his death.
His proudest accomplishment, however, was his family. He was predeceased by his sister Ruth Jean Hemstreet Burton and his granddaughter Emma Elizabeth Durrant. He is survived by his wife of nearly sixty years, Aileen Aldrich Hemstreet; five children, Stana Iseman and husband Robert, Aileen Durrant and husband John, Leslie Allen and husband Eric, Steven Hemstreet and wife Joanne, and Hollie McNeil and husband Michael, and seventeen grandchildren: Robert, Nathan and wife Jeannie, Rebeckah, Christine, Susan, Scott, and John Iseman; Gregory and Alida Durrant; Robin, Eben, Ethan, and Clayton Allen; Jacob Hemstreet; and Alex Andrea, Sean, and Maxwell McNeil; and several nieces and nephews.
Gen. Hemstreet will be buried with full military honors at Elmwood Cemetery in Schaghticoke.
General Hemstreet retired as Base Commander of the 109th Airlift Wing of the Air National Guard in Scotia in 1985, having started 37 years earlier as the third person to be hired at the base. His first assignment was as an aircraft engine mechanic. His later roles included Unit Supply Officer; Base Supply, Property and Fiscal Officer; and Chief of Maintenance. He then became Director of Operations, and in 1971 became Base Commander. As commander, Gen. Hemstreet was instrumental in bringing the C-130 "ski birds" to the 109th, which took on the mission of providing fuel and supplies to US outposts in Greenland, and later the mission of supplying South Pole Station in Antarctica. In a ceremony held on October 13th of last year, the 109th honored Gen. Hemstreet's distinguished service to the unit by naming a main road on the base Hemstreet Highway.
Over the course of his career he flew the F-47 Thunderbolt and F-51 Mustang fighters, the C-47 and C-97 transports, the T-33 jet trainer, the F-80 and F-86 fighter jets, and the C-130 transport (in both airdrop and ski-equipped models). He also became an instructor and flight examiner for both the C-97 and C-130.
Among the many highlights of his career, he was the aircraft commander for the first plane to arrive in Berlin as part of the 1961 Berlin Call-up. He also flew many missions into Vietnam during the Vietnam War. When he retired he had set the Air Force record as the pilot with the longest time on flying status, forty two years, and had logged more than 10,000 flying hours.
In civilian life, he was a very active member of the Schaghticoke community, serving as President of the Hoosic Valley School Board and a long-standing member of the Hoosic Valley Volunteer Fire Company. He also was one of the original organizers of the Willard Mountain Ski Area, and President for the past twenty years of the Knickerbocker Historical Society, working to preserve the Knickerbocker Mansion. He was also an active farmer throughout his life, running the family farm in Schaghticoke until his death.
His proudest accomplishment, however, was his family. He was predeceased by his sister Ruth Jean Hemstreet Burton and his granddaughter Emma Elizabeth Durrant. He is survived by his wife of nearly sixty years, Aileen Aldrich Hemstreet; five children, Stana Iseman and husband Robert, Aileen Durrant and husband John, Leslie Allen and husband Eric, Steven Hemstreet and wife Joanne, and Hollie McNeil and husband Michael, and seventeen grandchildren: Robert, Nathan and wife Jeannie, Rebeckah, Christine, Susan, Scott, and John Iseman; Gregory and Alida Durrant; Robin, Eben, Ethan, and Clayton Allen; Jacob Hemstreet; and Alex Andrea, Sean, and Maxwell McNeil; and several nieces and nephews.
Gen. Hemstreet will be buried with full military honors at Elmwood Cemetery in Schaghticoke.
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