Stanley Baran

Stanley Baran, 80 of Great Falls, a retired mechanic and maintenance man, died of metastatic carcinoma Tuesday, January 3 at Peace Hospice.A vigil service is 6 p.m. today at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, formerly St. Luke's. Funeral Liturgy is 2 p.m. Saturday at the church, with burial in Mount Olivet Cemetery. Schnider Funeral Home is handling arrangements.Survivors include his wife, Susie Baran; a daughter, Angie Baran-Coster; a son, Stan Baran Jr.; a brother, Joe Grabowski; and granddaughter Ali Coster, all of Great Falls, and a granddaughter, Sofia Baran of Altoona, Pa.He also is survived by a best friend, Wen, whom he loved like a brother.Stan was born in Malinow, Poland, and was raised in Poland and Germany. As a child of about 8 or 9, he was captured by the Gestapo and taken to a slave labor camp near Vitenburg, Germany, where he was beaten and treated like an animal until found by U.S. forces in 1945. In 1949, he was sponsored by NCWC and brought to Fairfield to stay with a Catholic family. He did not know English until he learned it in the U.S. He attended two years at Central Catholic High School and earned a Heisey Award, of which he was very proud.He was a mechanic at Montgomery Ward, Speedex and Western Motor. He worked as a maintenance man for First Federal Savings & Loan, and later at Sears.He married the love of his life, Susie, in 1961. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this past November.Stan was a past member of St. Luke's choir and maintenance committee. He helped many people who ran out of gas or needed help getting their cars started. There was very little he could not fix. He also visited and shuttled around the old and shut-ins.He enjoyed gardening; mechanics; yardwork; walking daily with his faithful companion, CoCo, and daughter Angie, whenever their schedules allowed, and practicing tai chi. He also enjoyed sports, especially soccer, ping-pong, tennis and bowling, and watching his beloved Dukies and Coach K.He was preceded in death by his father, whom he never knew; and his mother, who died while he was a very small child, and of whom he has only a vague memory of what she looked like.Memorials are suggested to Peace Hospice.