Stanley F. Dole, Jr. ’47 died on May 05, 2024, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
(The following was provided by the Grand Rapids Press on May 07, 2024:)
Stanley F. Dole, Jr. ’47
Stanley F. Dole, Jr. died on May 6, 2024, at Beacon Hill at Eastgate, a retirement community in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he had been living with his wife, Betsy, for over thirteen years.
He was born on February 4, 1926, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Valrosa Vivian Vale and Stanley F Dole, Sr. He grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where he graduated from Cooley High School. His college education at Bowdoin College in Maine was interrupted by service in the United States Navy during World War II. After being trained as an electronics technician, he was assigned to the USS Carnick, a destroyer mine sweeper where his job was to keep the radar and sonar devices in working order. When the war ended with the surrender of Japan, the Carnick was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on its way to Japan. After being discharged from the Navy, Stanley returned to Bowdoin College. He graduated in 1948 with a degree in Economics and membership in Phi Beta Kappa.
He earned a master’s degree in Business Administration at the University of Michigan in 1949 and became a certified public accountant. He began his life’s work as an auditor with Ernst and Ernst in Detroit where he worked with a partner in the Review Department. Together they were responsible for reviewing all the annual audits of corporations before they were formally issued by E and E.
He married Elizabeth Greensmith (Betsy) in 1958, with whom he had three children, Peggy Dolane, Howard (Beth), and James. In 1962 he was transferred by Ernst and Ernst to their office in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he served as manager of audits until 1973. After a brief period, he started his independent practice as a CPA, specializing in not-for-profit organizations. He became well known among not-for-profit organizations as the auditor who truly understood their special issues.
He was a member of the American Institute of CPAs, the Michigan Association of CPAs, and the Institute of Management Accountants. Over the years he authored numerous comment letters to the Accounting Principles Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). He worked as a C PA for over fifty years.
Well-respected for his advice on money management, Stan was asked to serve on many committees and boards, including those of the YWCA, Planned Parenthood, the local Girl Scouts Council, Michigan Nature Association, the United Methodist Community House, and West Michigan Environmental Action Council. Stan always worked to ensure that the organization’s board leadership understood the financial details. He had a reputation for not letting an issue go when he felt it was important. This persistent focus on improving outcomes and attention to detail extended outside the walls of the organization. He sometimes was found pulling a few weeds from the cracks in their parking lot on this way to his car. You knew when Stan was involved that he cared about the entire organization, not just its numbers.
Stan and Betsy both had a life-long involvement with the United Church of Christ, and its predecessor, the Congregational Christian Church. Over his lifetime he served in many roles within not only his local church, but also the Michigan Conference of the UCC and the national setting of the United Church of Christ. He was often invited to advise on the management of endowment funds.
When he was a young boy, his family vacationed at Lone Tree Point Resort on Torch Lake. There, he learned the satisfaction of fishing and eating your catch. The resort closed during World War II and never reopened. In 1954 his father was able to buy a piece of the property and build a log cabin on it. Over the years, Lone Tree Point became the center of family life with children and grandchildren enjoying their time there and learning the importance of caring for the land and waters surrounding it.
While he focused on “the bottom line” and made sure that all the numbers added up perfectly, Stanley Dole also had in mind “the big picture”. His concern for the earth’s sustainability extended to support for international organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, and Planned Parenthood Global. His thinking knew no bounds and extended into space.
Stan’s love of numbers extended to collecting massive amounts of data concerning his hobbies. He was known for playing twilight golf with three balls around the course and tracking each ball’s score. He also kept extensive “citizen scientist” environmental data for over seventy years of fishing records which included temperature, barometric reading, cloud cover, time spent, and results for every fishing trip.
He often took corporate financial reports or periodicals with him in the boat, to read while trolling. The Smithsonian, Ad Astra, Archaeology, and nature magazines were his favorites. He continued reading these while in Memory Care at Beacon Hill at Eastgate. His thinking knew no bounds and extended into space, where he was fascinated by current scientific discoveries. He was deeply moved by the stars, planets and Milky Way. He always knew which planets appeared at sunset and loved contemplating the mysteries of the universe with his children.
Stanley Dole was an only child and is survived by his wife of sixty-six years, three children and four grandchildren: Haley Dole, Connor Dole, Drew Dolane, and Elle Dolane, as well as three nephews, Robert, James, and Thomas Greensmith.