In an 8th grade school project, Stan wrote, “My parents told me I was very good, when I was ‘asleep’. I was always getting into trouble as far back as I can remember. Such as the time when I locked myself in the bathroom and my dad had to break the lock to get in. Or the time when my finger got stuck in the tricycle handle and the blacksmith had to cut off the handle to get my finger out.”
Stan’s family moved to Hastings, Nebraska, when Stan was a senior in high school. He lived with his Grandmother Reed until graduation from South Sioux City High School in 1962 when he, too, moved to Hastings. Stan worked from the age of 14 but his first full-time employment was at the Regional Center in Hastings. He also enrolled at Hastings College. Stan would get paid and then take his paycheck to the registrar of Hastings College to make a payment on his tuition. Stan graduated with a degree in geography with a history minor. Stan later earned a Masters degree in criminal justice from Wichita State University. Stan was a member of the Nebraska Army National Guard from 1966-72.
Following graduation from Hastings College, Stan moved to Lincoln to pursue employment with the Nebraska Department of Corrections. Within a short time, he applied with the Federal Bureau of Prisons starting a 20-year career with the Bureau in Leavenworth, Kansas. While at Leavenworth, Stan married Vicky Norris and together they welcomed a daughter Ashley. Stan also adopted Vicky’s son Eric. Stan’s career took him and his family to Mesquite,Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Washington, D.C.; and Marion, Illinois. Stan was an avid storyteller of prison incidents from accompanying a plane load of inmates from Atlanta back to Cuba to his most famous inmate, Pete Rose, at the Federal Work Camp of which Stan was Camp Administrator at Marion, Illinois.
After retiring in 1996 from the “Feds”, Stan returned to Nebraska and continued working in corrections in Lexington, McCook, and Lincoln. Stan retired in 2009. Prior to his retirement, he taught himself how to trade stocks and ETFs. He spent hours finding the right position and did quite well with his swing trading. In December, 2009, Stan met Bonnie Smith at the “punchbowl” at a First Plymouth Singles Christmas Dinner. They met each other at the perfect time in their lives and were married August 9, 2010. They took many trips throughout the United States, Canada, and Ireland. Stan proudly accomplished traveling to all 50 states with a trip to Hawaii. Stan and Bonnie also were able to spend 12 winters in Mesa, Arizona, avoiding the frigid Nebraska weather.
Stan was an avid Husker fan from his teenage years and followed them wherever he happened to be living. He also had a love for puzzles—crossword puzzles and jigsaw puzzles and was a fierce Scrabble player without even trying.
In September, 2025, Stan moved to Harbor Senior Living, a memory-care house. The transition was a difficult one but with the help of the caring staff at the Harbor, Stan the Man, as he was affectionately called by his Harbor family (and elsewhere, too), came to love the Harbor and its crew. Endless Journey Hospice also provided Stan with nursing, bath care, and music therapy which raised his quality of life in his final months. Stan passed away on July 26, 2026, at the Harbor.
Stan is survived by his wife Bonnie Smith; son Eric (Kali) Ahlin of Berryton, Kansas; daughter Ashley (Jake) Nelson of Platte City,Missouri; siblings Dan Ahlin of Lincoln; Paul (Sandy) Ahlin of Fairview, Texas; Renee (Jack) McCarty of Lincoln; granddaughter Autumn Ahlin; grandsons Knox and Krew Nelson, Aiker Ahlin; stepdaughters Amanda (Jason) Volz of Lincoln; Alison (Danny) Galvan of San Antonio, Texas, as well as many nieces and nephews, and his special canine friend Farley.
Stan was preceded in death by his parents and special grandmother Anna Reed.
Memorial service: 11:00 am, August 10, 2026, First Plymouth Chapel, 2000 D St.
Because Stan valued and encouraged education so much, a scholarship will be established in his honor for employees or employees’ children of Harbor Senior Living