Memorial Service Saturday, May 1st at 11:00am, El Montecito Presbyterian Church
Video of Service: Click on https://youtu.be/lS-lYZWB8mw
Obituary: Click on https://newspress.com/ekstrand-stanley/
Life story: Click on LIFE tab above
Photos: Click on GALLERY tab above
Stories: Click on STORIES tab above
December 19,1925 - March 27, 2021
Video of Service: Click on https://youtu.be/lS-lYZWB8mw
Obituary: Click on https://newspress.com/ekstrand-stanley/
Life story: Click on LIFE tab above
Photos: Click on GALLERY tab above
Stories: Click on STORIES tab above
December 19,1925 - March 27, 2021
Dad, Thank you for being there for us everyday. For being an example of Christian and family values. For the fun times in the summer backpacking in Yosemite and the skills I learned working
for Zig-Zag construction that I still use in retirement. You will be missed.
for Zig-Zag construction that I still use in retirement. You will be missed.
See the STORIES tab above for the full story from Denny and Cindy!
Stan and Betty were true encouragers, mentors, and a dear brother and sister in Christ! What a glorious and joy-filled reunion must have taken place as they have been re-united. There is no doubt in our minds that these words were spoken over them, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"
Our love and prayers to all the family as you adjust to life here on earth without these dear ones.
Denny and Cindy Noble
Stan and Betty were true encouragers, mentors, and a dear brother and sister in Christ! What a glorious and joy-filled reunion must have taken place as they have been re-united. There is no doubt in our minds that these words were spoken over them, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"
Our love and prayers to all the family as you adjust to life here on earth without these dear ones.
Denny and Cindy Noble
My Uncle Stan was always funny. He was unpredictable in what he would say.
He had snakes and lizards as pets. One time he brought a snake over to our house and showed us how it would slither into the sleeve of his shirt, then out the other sleeve.
He and Betty were very hospitable. We spent many Thanksgiving dinners at their house. Our family loved going over there.
Nancy Voss
He had snakes and lizards as pets. One time he brought a snake over to our house and showed us how it would slither into the sleeve of his shirt, then out the other sleeve.
He and Betty were very hospitable. We spent many Thanksgiving dinners at their house. Our family loved going over there.
Nancy Voss
Leave a Tribute
Recent Tributes
Dad, Thank you for being there for us everyday. For being an example of Christian and family values. For the fun times in the summer backpacking in Yosemite and the skills I learned working
for Zig-Zag construction that I still use in retirement. You will be missed.
for Zig-Zag construction that I still use in retirement. You will be missed.
See the STORIES tab above for the full story from Denny and Cindy!
Stan and Betty were true encouragers, mentors, and a dear brother and sister in Christ! What a glorious and joy-filled reunion must have taken place as they have been re-united. There is no doubt in our minds that these words were spoken over them, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"
Our love and prayers to all the family as you adjust to life here on earth without these dear ones.
Denny and Cindy Noble
Stan and Betty were true encouragers, mentors, and a dear brother and sister in Christ! What a glorious and joy-filled reunion must have taken place as they have been re-united. There is no doubt in our minds that these words were spoken over them, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"
Our love and prayers to all the family as you adjust to life here on earth without these dear ones.
Denny and Cindy Noble
My Uncle Stan was always funny. He was unpredictable in what he would say.
He had snakes and lizards as pets. One time he brought a snake over to our house and showed us how it would slither into the sleeve of his shirt, then out the other sleeve.
He and Betty were very hospitable. We spent many Thanksgiving dinners at their house. Our family loved going over there.
Nancy Voss
He had snakes and lizards as pets. One time he brought a snake over to our house and showed us how it would slither into the sleeve of his shirt, then out the other sleeve.
He and Betty were very hospitable. We spent many Thanksgiving dinners at their house. Our family loved going over there.
Nancy Voss
Gallery
I went to church with Stan and busted him out of his retirement home a few times. :)

Stan and Jeanne Sargent, Samarkand 2013. Stan and Betty, always in my heart!

In front of one of Hitler's Headquarters, the Eagle's Nest - Das Kehlsteinhaus

ZigZag Construction memorialized by Bill Joiner 1976

Comedy Theater at the Samarkand

JAARS Construction Project - Townsend N.C.

Vienna


MPs, "Fross" and "Stan"

Recent stories
Thank you, Stan.
I'm Linda Simons, wife of Gary, who grew up with the Ekstrand boys. I met the Ekstrands over 45 years ago just prior to getting married and joining Wycliffe Bible Translators.
During Stan and Betty's years working with Wycliffe Associates, they would sometimes pass through Dallas or come here for more extended times of work. We always were benefited by these visits both for the fun fellowship and also for the fact that Stan always found something to fix in this old house of ours. He even worked with Gary's dad to put a new (level) subfloor in the dining room and kitchen (he complained about the fact that the peas rolled off his plate...). That was just one of the many ways he help us with his construction skills over the years.
We are thankful for Stan and Betty and we miss them both. We are grateful to them and to the extended Ekstrand family for their many years of friendship and support.
During Stan and Betty's years working with Wycliffe Associates, they would sometimes pass through Dallas or come here for more extended times of work. We always were benefited by these visits both for the fun fellowship and also for the fact that Stan always found something to fix in this old house of ours. He even worked with Gary's dad to put a new (level) subfloor in the dining room and kitchen (he complained about the fact that the peas rolled off his plate...). That was just one of the many ways he help us with his construction skills over the years.
We are thankful for Stan and Betty and we miss them both. We are grateful to them and to the extended Ekstrand family for their many years of friendship and support.
EKSTRANDED!
Thirty-five years ago the Lord brought Stan and Betty Ekstrand into our lives. They had come to Waxhaw, North Carolina as Wycliffe Associates volunteers ("WA's"), and Denny and I were Wycliffe Associates staff. Then a couple years later, we had taken an assignment in Dakar, Senegal. The project was our first overseas experience, and there we were, a young family with three little boys ages 8, 6, and 3. We were there to supervise the construction project and serve as hosts to the many volunteers. The living arrangements were communal, with a group kitchen and bathrooms, and then a string of motel-like bedrooms. We ate all three meals together as a big family. On the day that Stan and Betty arrived, we were all sitting at the long dining table enjoying lunch. A member of SIL had gone to the airport to meet the Ekstrands and bring them to the project. An enclosed screened porch was our dining room. The door swung open, and as they walked into the dining area, Stan announced, "What do ya gotta do to get a cup of coffee around here?" The twinkle in his eye went unheeded by Trudy, the very staid German Mennonite woman who was in charge of meal preparation. A few days later, while we were all eating our rather simple lunch of fresh bread, tomatoes, ham, and cheese, the question rang out, "What do ya gotta do to get some mayonnaise around here?" Trudy was very quiet, and later came to Denny and said, "I think that man hates me!" The story has a happy ending...Trudy did learn to acknowledge,(if not quite "get") Stan's wonderfully dry sense of humor.
Stan and Betty became surrogate grandparents to our boys. We were all thrilled when a few years later, they came to work with us again, this time in Yaounde, Cameroon. We took a trip to a remote vilage with them and another volunteer, Richard Titus, all squished together in a double cab Toyota Hi-Lux. I think we laughed all the way there and back.
And one last memory...we were in the States, traveling and visiting our support partners. Our trip had taken us from PA through the midwest, up to Washington State, and down the Pacific Coast, making our way to Orange, CA for a conference. We stayed with Stan and Betty in their lovely home in Santa Cruz for two nights then headed south for the conference. Shortly after leaving their home, our old van broke down on the highway. Our sunshade had a "NEED HELP" message on the back side, so we put that in the windshield and hoped someone would see it. As we were all sitting there watching the cars speed past, suddenly one of us said, "That was the Ekstrands!!" A few minutes later a Highway Patrol Officer stopped to help us, and then, there were Stan and Betty, pulling up behind us! They arranged and paid for towing our van to the nearest garage, which happened to have a hotel and a restaurant, they paid for the repairs AND our room and meals...and as if that wasn't enough...they took us to Disneyland for a day, renting rooms so that we all could go to the park in the morning, leave and get lunch, get some rest, then go back to the park and stay until it closed!
Our family description of this series of events is, "We were stranded...but then we were EKSTRANDED!
Stan and Betty were true encouragers, mentors, and a dear brother and sister in Christ! What a glorious and joy-filled reunion must have taken place as they have been re-united. There is no doubt in our minds that these words were spoken over them, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"
Our love and prayers to all the family as you adjust to life here on earth without these dear ones.
Denny and Cindy Noble
This is from Stan's sister, Rae…
Stan was born and grew up in San Jose, and had one other sister, Lynne.We all had a wonderful childhood climbing trees, playing kickball in the street, sleeping outside in the summer and playing with our dog skipper. We went to Sunday school every Sunday.We walked to school every day and once a week after school attended a Bible class at a little church that was near our school. At this time all three of us accepted Jesus as our savior and we all stayed true to our faith. I even remember the teachers name, Miss Drace. We all saw her years later at Mount Hermon.
We all attended Campbell high school, and immediately after graduation as World War II was winding down Stan was drafted and sent to Germany with the army of occupation where he drove a jeep for a US general. He returned home just in time for my wedding to Bob Mason. He didn’t have appropriate clothes so Bob bought him a suit.
Stan had an amazing sense of humor. Many years later Stan took Lynne and me to his timeshare at Bass Lake. He had a really neat convertible and we spent a fun afternoon with the top down driving around the lake listening to Johnny Cash music. What a memory. What a wonderful brother.
I’ll miss him but know that I will see him again one day in heaven.
His sister, Rae