“I remember my first solo flight in the A, I overshot the final twice, mainly due to not using enough rudder for the turn. The mobile officer sent me out for a very long final. I finally got lined up and landed (whew!). So, what did they do? They immediately put me into another A and sent me off again. I’m still here, so I guess it worked!!
After my service days, I was in Corporate Jet Sales and became the Senior VP of marketing for Gulfstream.”
Henry Martin Stumpf, Jr., LtCol USAF, Ret., “Headed West” on July 29, 2023.
Henry’s daughter Greta informed us of his passing. Henry M. Stumpf, Jr., LtCol USAF, Ret., July 12, 1934 – July 29, 2023.
Hank is remembered as a loving husband, father, and grandad. He passed away peacefully at home in San Mateo, California surrounded by loved ones on July 29, 2023.
Hank was born on July 12, 1934 in Hackensack, NJ to Henry and Agnes Stumpf. He attended Dumont High School and Rutgers University, where he was named “All Intramural Athlete” for excelling in football, basketball, baseball, wrestling and diving. While at Rutgers, he met and married his wife, Jeanette Stumpf, and enjoyed 55 years together. He also joined ROTC and was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.
After graduation, Hank continued in the Air Force, trained at the famed Fighters Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, and became a fighter pilot, flying F-100s in the 416th and 430th Tactical Fighter Squadrons. He flew the first Supersonic jet and was a lifetime member of the Super Sabre Society where he made lifelong friends. Hank continued his military career with the National Guard for the next 20 years, retiring from the Air Force as Lieutenant Colonel. He was also a flight instructor for the Civil Air Patrol in California and Pennsylvania, and purchased his own single engine plane, which he loved flying around the Bay Area skies with an occasional acrobatic trick!
After retiring from the Air Force, Hank was an executive at LearJet and Senior Vice President at Gulfstream, taking his family to Los Angeles and Savannah, Georgia. He later started his own aircraft sales and acquisition companies, Aviation Methods and HMS Aviation in the Bay Area.
Hank was a devoted member of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in San Mateo and an avid fan of the 49ers and Giants. He played tennis for years at the Peninsula Tennis Club in Burlingame, and enjoyed post-match bridge with his friends. Hank’s love of life, quick wit and sense of humor easily made him the life of every party. But his greatest love was his children and grandchildren, and he scheduled his days to attend their birthdays, graduations, performances and sporting events over the years, and to plan annual summer trips and round robin tennis tournaments in Carmel and Rubicon Bay, Lake Tahoe.
Hank is survived by his wife, Jeanette, children Greta Mehta, Erikka Molumphy and Chuck (Henry III); son-in-law Mark Molumphy; grandchildren Grace Mehta-Suits (Aaron), Caroline Slaughter (Zach), Bridgette and Thomas Molumphy, and Henry Stumpf IV. He is preceded in death by his parents, sister Joanne Rae Frey and brother Donald Edgar Stumpf.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Sutter Care at Home or the Wounded Warrior Project.
A private memorial service will be held for the immediate family.
Published by San Francisco Chronicle on Aug. 4, 2023.
