A black ribbon and a red rose rest on the barber's chair of Stanislaus (Stanley) Angus McLean of Centerville, barber for generations of Cape Codders, who died Jan. 5.
McLean was 89. He worked right up until he passed away.
McLean's Barber Shop at 15 Barnstable Road has been a cornerstone of the Hyannis community for decades. A note on the door reads, "Closed in memory of Dad! Back Friday 8 a.m."
A funeral mass is being celebrated today (Jan. 10) at 11:30 a.m. at Our Lady of Victory Church, 230 S. Main St., Centerville. Burial will follow in St. Francis Xavier Cemetery in Centerville. (For online guestbook and directions, visit www.johnlawrencefuneralhome.com.)
“I am 70 years old and remember my father going there when Stan's father, Norman, owned it,” said Irene Aylmer of Hyannis. A Korean War veteran, “Stan took over after his father died. He was there for 68 years.”
Many a young man got his first haircut at Stan's and continued going there throughout their lives. McLean greeted each person by name and kept up with their families.
McLean's is the place where one could talk about family, Barnstable politics, and sports, said Town Manager Mark Ells, a McLean’s regular.
Another McLean's regular was also sad to hear of McLean's passing.
“When you walked in the door at McLean's, Stan would welcome you like an old friend,” said Paul Pronovost, executive editor of The Cape Cod Times. “And he had many old friends -- Stan knew the cow licks and bald spots of generations of Cape Codders. For me, it has been a place to find out what's going on in Barnstable and maybe hear a story or a joke or two.
"I'll miss this charming gentleman.”
Aylmer's brother-in-law, Lenny Gobeil, said he got to know Stan Sr. in the '70s, when they became friends as members of the Red Raiders Quarterback Club. For Gobeil, visiting McLean's Barber Shop was "a magic type of relationship."
"Stan would always have a joke or two or three, and he would tell you stories," Gobeil said. "You knew you'd get a good haircut at a good price and a good story."
Condolences on McLean's online guest book reveal a man who put customers -- and people -- first.
"You were the first to welcome us to the neighborhood," reads the post of one well-wisher. Another reads: "It will be tough to be in the chair without you there."
Another online comment mentions McLean's habit of taking a coin from the cash register to buy a piece of gum from a trusty gumball machine for his young customers. McLean himself discussed that tradition in a 2011 interview with The Barnstable Patriot.
"One day at church," McLean remembered at the time, "I got pressed into taking up the collection. As I passed the basket, a little kid said -- loud -- 'Look, it's the gumball man!'"
In that same interview, McLean recalls cutting the hair of John F. Kennedy the day before JFK's nomination and later giving "John-John" some of his first haircuts. However, he also speaks with pride of providing haircuts for family members, including his own father and his great-grandson.
McLean's Barber Shop opened in 1923.
In that 2011 interview, McLean said he loved doing business in the village. "You never know who a person is," he said, recalling his father's teaching. "Never a person comes through that door that you don't need. They've come to give you their business, and a good customer lasts forever."
The 2011 article ended with McLean's own words: "It's joyful to be a barber and to be part of the community."
Editor's Note: Ellen C. Chahey's 2011 Barnstable Patriot article "Making History by Standing Still" was used for this piece.