Stanley Ray Guthrie, age 89, Harrisonville, MO, died Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at Crown Care Center in Harrisonville. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Monday, June 13, 2011 at the Atkinson Chapel in Harrisonville. Visitation will be from 3:00-5:00 p.m. Sunday, June 12 at the chapel. Burial will be in Crescent Hill Cemetery, Adrian, MO. Memorial contributions are suggested to Crossroads Hospice of Kansas City, 9237 Ward Parkway, Suite 300, Kansas City, MO 64114.

Stanley was born September 12, 1921 in Orla, MO, the son of Orange Ray and Ivora (Nunn) Guthrie. He attended and graduated high school in Lebanon, Missouri in 1941. Stanley attended Chillicothe Business College from September 1941 until May 1943 when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force. He was united in marriage to Helen Reaves on October 14, 1944 at Maxwell Field, Alabama. Stanley served thirteen months in the Asiatic Pacific Theater of Operations as a pilot of B-29's.

After the war Stanley and Helen settled in Batesville, Arkansas where he flew as a business pilot and owned Guthrie Produce Company. In 1960 Stanley began work for the Federal Aviation Agency as an Air Traffic Controller at the Enroute Center Memphis, Tennessee. He retired in 1982 and moved to Harrisonville in 2003.

Stanley belonged to the Oakhaven Baptist Church in Memphis, TN where he served as a Deacon, Sunday school director of the Adult Department and as a trustee and board member of the Christian school, Oakhaven Baptist Academy. Later Stanley belonged and served as Deacon and Sunday school director at Kensington Baptist Church in Memphis.

Stanley was preceded in death by his parents and one sister. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Helen, of the home; a son, Greg Guthrie and his wife, Renee of Lenexa, KS; a daughter, Glenda Guthrie of Harrisonville, MO and three grandchildren, Lauren Guthrie, Lenexa, KS, Jonathan Guthrie, deployed with the United States Marine Corps and Nathan Guthrie, Lenexa, KS.