Stanley GUERTIN

TRENTON -- Stanley Guertin, 89, died Friday in Compassionate Care Hospice in St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton.Mr. Guertin was a native of Trenton and was once a resident of Lower Makefield for 21 years.He retired in 1981 after more than 22 years of service with Trans America DeLaval's Imo Division at Monroe, NC as contracts administrator.He graduated from Trenton Central High School in 1935 and the Academy of Aeronautics in Newark. He learned to fly prior to the war at early-day Mercer Airport but then failed entry in the U.S. Army Air Corps' Aviation Cadet program due to a slight eye defect.As an aviation specialist during World War II, Mr. Guertin was one of a small group who built the very first one of 7,500 Avenger Torpedo bombers produced by G.M.C.'s Eastern Aircraft Division in Trenton. He was next assigned to the U.S. Navy Buaer as a senior technical representative servicing both the TBMs as well as the Wildcat fighters built in Linden. Based at ComAirPac offices in Pearl Harbor, he traveled throughout the Pacific working with carrier air groups.Before joining G.M.C., Mr. Guertin had been employed by Seversky Aircraft Corp. on Long Island and by Fleetwings Inc. in Bristol, PA.At the war's close he joined the newly formed International Division of TWA at Newark, flying the first commercial trans-atlantic flights. He helped establish maintenance and supply systems along the route at overseas bases in Cairo, Paris, Rome and others.Later in 1949 he joined Chase Aircraft Co. in West Trenton as a tool and process engineer engaged in proto-type development of the Chase C-123 cargo plane for the U.S. Air Force over an 80-year period. Still later he was employed by Curtiss-Wright Corp. as a tooling and methods engineer on the newly developed jet engine production.Mr. Guertin was an ardent world traveler, visiting remotest corners of the globe. His other interests were writing, photography, tennis, bowling, and canoeing. He was a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association, member of the Trent House Association and a member of the Board of Governors of The Greater Trenton Symphony of which his father had been a founder and performer.Son of the late E. Stanley Guertin and Violet M. Steele Guertin, he is survived by his daughter Constance A. Longwell of Hamilton Square; a daughter and son-in-law, Victoria and Robert Sher of Oley, PA; two sons and two daughters-in-law, S. Douglas and Mary E. Guertin of Louisville, KY, and David B. and Christina R. Guertin of Peachtree City, GA; six grandchildren, Katherine Farnan of Sewickley, PA, Andrea Stackhouse of Hamilton and Karl, Kaitlin, Jeannine and Rebecca Guertin, all of Peachtree City, GA; and two great-granddaughters and two great-grandsons.Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. today from the J. Allen Hooper Funeral Chapel, 41 W. Trenton Ave., Morrisville, PA with the Rev. Richard Emmons officiating.Interment will follow in Ewing Church Cemetery, Ewing.Relatives and friends may call from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. today at the funeral chapel.Published in The Times, Trenton, from 11/28/2005 - 11/29/2005.