Stuart R. Haley, 80, Was Engineer, Island Innkeeper

Stuart R. Haley died May 19 following complications from surgery. He was 80 years old.

Stu was born on July 4, 1925, in Flint, Mich. He was a lifelong engineer, having found his calling when he was young by building a radio described in Popular Science Magazine. As a solder during World War II he worked as a radio technician and pilot. During his military service he was known as the wiz kid who beat the quiz kids by acing all his courses.

After his military service he married his teenage sweetheart, Marcia Kane. Later he earned a degree in electrical engineering from Vanderbilt University and then a post-graduate degree in economics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His career in engineering and subsequently human services resulted in many interesting moves for his family over the years.

Like other visitors to the Vineyard, Stu and his wife, Marcia, eventually decided to make the Island their home. In the early 1970s they purchased the Oak House, an Oak Bluffs property which they transformed into a bed and breakfast. A few years later they purchased the Mansion House, which they upgraded and ran as the Tisbury Inn for a number of years.

In the early 1990s they retired to Sarasota, Fla., where they became active in the community.

Stu is survived by his wife of 58 years, Marcia K. Haley, and their son, Austin Haley, daughter in law Rosemary and grandson, Justin. Other surviving family members include Frances Kane Woerpel and Robert D. Woerpel of Rochester, N.Y., and Vineyard Haven; niece Karin W. Stanley and Ted Stanley of West Tisbury; and nephew David Woerpel of Salem.

A service in his memory was held at the Sarasota Unitarian Universalist Church on June 10 at 2 p.m.