Angie Stanford, owner of George’s Hideaway near Guerneville, dies at 87

At less than 5 feet tall, Angela Stanford was hardly the kind of imposing figure one imagines keeping order in a roadside tavern. She had to stand on risers just to reach the bar and serve her patrons drinks.

But over four decades of running the former George’s Hideaway on Highway 116 near Guerneville, Stanford blended the no-nonsense approach of a barkeep with an almost motherly demeanor that earned her loyal friends around the Russian River area.

The restaurant/bar that she and her late husband - the George in George’s Hideaway - ran together for a few short years before his early death was Stanford’s home and the customers her family, said longtime friend Diane Spain.

“She worked day and night. She was unbelievable,” Spain said, “and she kept everybody in their place. But she was just a hoot, and she ran a very fun place. It was place where people could go with their families, and stuff like that.”

Stanford, who retired from the bar six years ago despite a lifelong struggle with diabetes, died May 26 at Mirabel Lodge in Forestville, her home for the last 18 months. She had turned 87 years just the week before.

“She was such an icon out here at the river,” said Mary Mount, a former employee.

A native of Salzburg, Austria, Angela “Angie” Hamminger Stanford spoke for her entire life with the heavy accent of her homeland and was known to listen to traditional German music full-blast in her second-floor home from time-to-time, Spain said.

She came to the United States in the early 1960s with a military family for whom she had been working in Germany as a housemaid, friends said.

She met George Stanford at a bar that employed them both near Hamilton Air Force Base. In 1967, they moved to Sonoma County and acquired a long-running inn and tavern built on the site of the old Montesano railroad stop between Guerneville and Monte Rio.

First with her husband, and later on her own, Stanford resided on the top floor of a duplex next to the Hideaway for roughly ?46 years, making it easy for her to “live” at work. There were a half-dozen cabins that served as vacation rentals, as well.

Stanford knew how to run the place. She never drank herself, and tended the bar even before her husband’s death in 1973, when such work was unusual for a woman, friends said.

A music lover, she was particularly fond of country western music. “Edelweiss,” the Rodgers and Hammerstein tune from the Sound of Music - the musical set in her native Austria - was also a favorite.

One of her best friends was former San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Bob St. Clair, who at 6 feet, 9 inches tall and 260 pounds created an interesting contrast with the diminutive west county bar owner, Mount said.

“They were just plain good buddies,” even in their last years, Mount said. St. Clair died in April.

Despite her affectionate nature, Stanford was not one to abide disorder. Once, said Spain, some bikers drove up on a Sunday afternoon and the regulars in the bar stood up, “thinking they’re going to have trouble.”

“And she said, ‘Sit down. Just sit down, all of you,’ and said, ‘I’ll take care of this.’ And she went outside and said, ‘We don’t want you here,’ and they left.”

Another time, according to Spain, a male patron from the dining room ordered a beer and a nondescript glass of wine for his girlfriend, telling Stanford, “Give her anything.”

Stanford instructed him, “You go back in there and ask her what she wants.”

“She was tough,” Spain said. “I used to give her a bad time. I used to tell her how stubborn she was, and she would say she’s not stubborn. She was always right!”

While still in Austria, Stanford gave birth to a son with whom she became close later in life. He remained in Austria when she made America her home, and she appeared to have little other connection to her homeland, Mount and Spain said. The son, Kurt Hamminger, died in 2001.

In 1986 Stanford became a U.S. citizen and celebrated in the dark of a power outage, amid flooding on the Russian River.

Stanford sold the Hideaway in 2013 and it has since closed.

A memorial service for Stanford will be held at the Russian River Senior Center. No date has been set yet.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan?@pressdemocrat.com.