Obituary of Stanley Loren Sparks

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Stanley Loren Sparks, who passed away at Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan on June 11, 2017.  Stan “the Man” was born on April 4, 1952, and grew up in Kalamazoo where he attended Comstock High School and Western Michigan University and worked at Norman Camera, which started his lifelong love of photography.  He then spent most of his adult life with his wife Claire and daughter Jessica in New York City, where he managed restaurants and bars and was the embodiment of the hospitality of his chosen career. His kind spirit, love of life, and inimitable sense of humor brought light, joy and laughter into the lives of his countless friends and to everyone he met. Stan was a lover of wildlife and nature, and had a soft spot in his heart for all animals.  Most importantly, he was a devoted, generous and loving father, husband, son and friend, and his loss is profoundly felt.  Stan was preceded in death by his father, Delbert Sparks. In addition to his wife Claire and daughter Jessica (her husband Peter and his granddaughter Emmy), Stan is survived by: his mother, Gertrude and his brother David (his wife Kathleen, their children Adam and Ashley and Adam’s wife Ashley), Aunts and Uncles Rev. Charles Garrod, Fred and Pat Garrod, Rachel Garrod, Pat Sparks, Mildred Peterson, and Ken Dunlap and many loving cousins. 

A service to celebrate Stan’s life will be held on Friday June 16 at 1:30 pm at Sunnyside United Methodist Church, 2800 Gull Rd Kalamazoo, MI 49048.  Visitation will be held at 12:30, and guests are invited to join the family for refreshments following the service. In lieu of gifts or flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Stanley’s name to the FSH Society (Facioscapulahumeral Muscular Dystrophy) at 450 Bedford Street Lexington, MA 02420 or online at https://www.fshsociety.org/make-gift/.