I had the privilege of working with Stan on the Nigeria EPI evaluation of 1989. Stan was, of course, an old Nigeria hand by then, and decided to work on the evaluation although he was invited to the WHO Global Advisory Group meeting held in Tokyo at the same time.
Stan’s contribution to the report (which he co-authored with the legendary Artur Galazka, another departed giant) was enormous. The wrap-up meeting was on the fifth floor conference room of the Ministry HQ, then in Lagos. Lagos being Lagos, the elevator was broken. At the top of the steps was the then Minister, Ransome-Kuti, greeting each of us members and, not incidentally, pulling us up the last step.
After the presentation, to which he listened with rapt attention, Ransome-Kuti strode across the room, gave Stan a firm handshake, and said, “Thanks so much for coming.” That was Stan.