Stanley David Laskin of Napa, CA, who grew up in Cochecton Center, NY and always considered it “home,” died at his daughter’s home in San Rafael, CA on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 after a courageous fight against cancer. He was 75.

Stan was born on November 30, 1936 to the late Harry and Frieda (Markowitz) Laskin, who lived in Cochecton Center, NY and raised three sons there.

A retired missile engineer since the late ‘50s, Stan’s work took him around the country from Vandenberg AFB in California to Cheyenne, Wyoming to Cape Canaveral, Florida.

He was a graduate of Narrowsburg High School, (class of 1954) and Broome Tech in Binghamton, NY, and attended NYU and Syracuse University. A member of Sports Car Club of America for 50 years, Stan was a champion race car driver and served as a track steward at many events. As late as this summer, he was given the honor of driving the pace car at Thunder Hill race track. While he raced many different types of cars, he had a special love for Corvettes and owned one since the 1960s, picking up his last one at the factory and driving it cross country to California.

With his late wife Pauline, Stan enjoyed traveling to China, Australia, Greece and Turkey. Their house was often filled with friends from an eclectic mix of backgrounds. But Stan never forgot his high school classmates and, in the last few years, kept in touch via email.

Stan is survived by his daughter Leslie Edie Reese-Laskin and son-in-law Steve of San Rafael, CA; brother Don and sister-in-law Marie Laskin of Sunnyvale, CA; grandchildren Emily and Benjamin and his late daughter Carol Lee’s children, Andrew and Abby; nieces Liana Laskin, Stacey Laskin, Jody Rosenberg and husband Stuart and Lori Bloom and husband Mike; and grand-nieces, grand-nephews and many cousins.

Stan is also predeceased by his brother, Allen Laskin, who quoted the aphorism, “You can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy.” Though they lived in other parts of the country, all three brothers felt that way about “back home.”

Burial is in San Rafael, California.