For almost 40 years, "Praise The Lord McNairs," was the way Stan McNair, his wife and four daughters answered the phone. He once explained what often would happen if it was from a first-time caller.

"There would usually be a long pause," he said, "and then they would either ignore it or they would laugh and say 'amen!'"

Stan went to be with the Lord, Saturday, May 28, after a long battle with both COPD and congestive heart failure. He was 85.

He was a rugged westerner, reared in Dayton, Washington, who enjoyed outdoor adventures like camping, hiking, skiing and teen-age engineering projects like converting floor boards into cross-country skis or creating go carts by using lawn mower engines. He also spent much of his early life hanging around garages, where he learned an appreciation for automobiles and racing. As a young father, he would often join “auto-cross” competitions with a daughter or two along for the ride.

With two years completed toward a degree in economics, he joined the Air Force and served stateside during the Korean conflict, working on radar systems for the F-84 and F-86. He then used the GI Bill to finish his college degree this time in Electrical Engineering and began his career with Westinghouse in Lima, Ohio in 1958. He transferred his growing family to Raleigh in 1969. When the company restructured in the mid-seventies, his choices were either to transfer or to remain in Raleigh without a job.

To nobody's surprise, his self-reliant western attitude kicked in. He left Westinghouse and partnered with Phillip Smith to form a sub-contracting company, specializing in commercial restrooms. When they later dissolved the partnership, Stan found his niche, repairing major appliances, under the name of McNair’s Repairs.

Thousands of Raleigh-area homeowners remember Stan for his appliance repair work that often came with sage wisdom at no extra cost. Others will never forget his warm hospitality while ushering at North Haven Church.

As his health began to decline, he stopped making make house calls; but he still occupied his mind by solving daily crossword puzzles and Sudoku and by repairing smaller items at Cash’s Appliance Parts.

As his children grew up in Raleigh, they attended Sunset Hills Christian Church where Stan served as an elder and chairman of the board. Later, the family attended Christ Chapel and North Haven Church. During his time as an elder at Christ Chapel their home often served as an unofficial fellowship house for many in the congregation. They occasionally hosted New Year's Eve parties to "praise out the old and pray in the new," with laughter and joyous singing that would go until dawn.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Wanda, who passed away in January of 2009; but she could pray down the Heavens. Stan's more stoic faith held the family together like a rock after her untimely passing.

He will be sorely missed by his brother, Dennis McNair (Karen) of Johnstown, PA, his four daughters, Aleta Landers (Mark) of Atlanta, Ga, Kasey Delancy (Jay), Heather Warren (Rick), and Natalie Crawford (Phil) all of Raleigh, his nine grandchildren, Dean, (Margaret), KatieRuth and Elizabeth Landers, Jon DeLancy, Rebecca, Josh and Ruth Warren, Julie-Anne Scott (Sean), and Jim Crawford, and by his only great grandson, Judah Walden Landers.

Visitation is Friday, June 3 at 12:30 and funeral services are scheduled for 1:30 at North Haven Church, 6620 Six Forks Road, Raleigh followed by a graveside service with military honors at Brier Creek Memorial Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to Transitions LifeCare Hospice of Raleigh.