1978 TUSTIN AREA MAN OF THE YEAR: Howard Frederick Pinkstaff
Howard Frederick Pinkstaff
Howard Frederick “Fred” Pinkstaff was born in Lawrence County, Illinois on 27 May 1926, the son of Randolph Enloe Pinkstaff and Della Anna Matthews Folkers. He was raised in Pinkstaff, Illinois a rural town in Lawrence County.
He entered the United States Navy in 1945, at age 19, and served 2 ½ years in the Pacific Theater. Upon his discharge, he attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, graduating with a Business Degree in 1949.
In 1952, he married Elizabeth Jean Daniels in Hammond Lake, Indiana. Fred and Elizabeth raised two daughters, Patricia and Valerie. They were early residents of Tustin’s Laurelwood Homes Community.
He began his career in Grocery Store Management in the Midwest with A&P Supermarkets (1949-1955) before moving into banking with Indiana National Bank (1955-1960) and Crocker-Citizens National Bank (1960-1968).
Pinkstaff joined State Mutual Savings in August 1968 and was appointed Regional Manager of the Tustin Branch in September 1970. He quickly became immersed in the Tustin Community, as a member of the Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, Tustin Area Girl Scouts, treasurer of RAP (a Rehabilitation group) and the Santa Ana Zoo Association.
He was named Tustin Man of the Year in 1978, along with Barbara Benson as the Tustin Woman of the Year.
Howard “Fred’ Pinkstaff passed away in El Dorado, Missouri om 12 March 2004 and is buried in Sumner Cemetery, Sumner, Lawrence County, Illinois.