Stanley died after a short illness at Dorset County Hospital on 16 November.
He is survived by his four children – Robert, James, Christian and Andrea – and six grandchildren – Jonathan, Lottie, Alex, Lucy, Henry and Joseph.
Born in Cheshire on 26 December 1936, Stanley completed National Service before joining Daimler, a division of Jaguar cars, as a technician at its Coventry site in the late 1950s. It was here that his son James Stanley said he developed a great appreciation for fine-quality engineering.
He went on to work for a print machinery distributor in Manchester before being recruited by KS Paul of London to be northern sales manager.
In 1965 he set up Stanley Press Equipment in Macclesfield with a £200 loan from his father, the receipt for which still sits on his son James’ dining room table.
In 1967, he commissioned his cousin Kenneth Smith, an architect, to design a purpose-built factory in Bank Street, Macclesfield. Today, the business is located on Gunco Lane, Macclesfield, round the corner from the old site.
Stanley was managing director of Stanley Press Equipment from its foundation, presiding over a period of growth in the 1980s and 1990s during which it employed 50 staff, before handing the reins over to his eldest son Robert in 2004 and retiring.
The business operates as exclusive distributor for Gietz, Kugler-Womako, Graymills and Albo converting systems in the UK, and historically was associated with other leading machinery suppliers, including Hang, Mark Andy and Rotaflex.
James Stanley, a British Airways captain by trade, is director and company secretary of JG Stanley Holdings, the company which looks after the historic land assets of the Bank Street site of Stanley Press Equipment.
He said: “For dad, Stanley Press Equipment represented his life's work. He was hugely proud of the company he had founded and the way in which it had become such a significant player on the British and international paper converting machinery landscape.
"He assiduously read his copy of PrintWeek and lamented the decline of the traditional ways of printing as desktop publishing consumed the old practices.
"Dad undoubtedly was the right man for his time, but as someone who never had a personal email address or a mobile phone, he was probably quietly content to hand the reins over to a new generation. Always a gentleman, unquestionably a character; he will be greatly missed by many."
Stanley moved down to Cattistock, Dorset in his latter years. A family funeral for him took place near his home on 28 November at Corscombe Parish Church, where he is buried.
The family are planning to organise a service of thanksgiving for friends and former colleagues, which will be held in Cheshire some time in early 2017, with further details to be announced in due course.
