Stan Bogdan was happiest standing over his modest workbench, whether in a drafty corner of an old converted Nashua mill or his more recent shop off Turnpike Road in New Ipswich.

But a close second, even perhaps ahead of taking part in the very sport he all but revolutionized with his skill and craftsmanship, was his love of simply hanging out and swapping stories with old fishing buddies.

That’s precisely where Stanley E. Bogdan was the night of March 10, front and center in a collection of some of the most recognizable and respected names in the world of fly-fishing. He delighted in every minute, a friend said, as did those around him.

A week ago today, Bogdan, a Nashua native and remarkable craftsman whose youthful interest in tinkering and fishing led to more than 65 years of designing, refining and building some of the most coveted and sought-after fly reels in the history of the sport, died at his Nashua home, his family by his side. He was 92.

Visiting hours are 4-8 p.m. Monday at Anctil-Rochette & Son Funeral Home, 21 Kinsley St., Nashua. His funeral will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Patrick Church on Spring Street. A luncheon will follow.

“My dad was a man who loved his job,” said Stephen Bogdan, who worked alongside his father for more than 20 years. “He had to – he did it for 70 years.”

Over the years, the community of proud Bogdan fly reel owners has expanded to a rather eclectic assemblage ranging from musicians Benny Goodman and Eric Clapton to Red Sox great Ted Williams and former President Jimmy Carter.

According to several Web sites, even “The Crooner” – Bing Crosby – and the Duke of Wellington had Bogdan fly reels in common.

Although Stan Bogdan never really uttered the word “retirement,” his son and others say, he did begin winding things down at the New Ipswich shop about a year ago. At 60, Steve Bogdan has since been scaling the business back, he said, indicating the shop will likely close for good.

One of the many corners of the fly-fishing world mourning Bogdan’s loss is in Manchester, Vt., at The American Museum of Fly Fishing.

“Everyone thoroughly enjoyed Stan Bogdan,” Yoshi Akiyama, the museum’s deputy director, said Friday. “He was always supportive of this museum. Stan was very good to us and our organization over the years.”

Bogdan, who served on the museum’s board of trustees a number of years ago, made a point of bringing his family to visit in recent years, Akiyama said.

“We always enjoyed having him come by,” Akiyama said. “We will miss him a lot.”

While Bodgan shunned public appearances in recent years in favor of quieter times, he made one exception: the March 10 fundraiser for his beloved museum. Held at the historic New York Anglers Club, which borders the city’s Financial District and includes a number of big-time Wall Street players on its membership list, it would be Bogdan’s final public appearance.

“He was our guest of honor that night,” Akiyama said.

The evening leaves bittersweet memories for many attendees.

“He enjoyed himself so much,” Akiyama said. “It was a great night for everyone. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the last time I’d see him.”

One of four children of immigrants Stanislaus and Sophia Bogdan, Stanley Edward Bogdan was born in 1918 at the family home on Fifield Street, the same place he conceived and designed the first prototypes of today’s world-famed S.E. Bogdan reels.

His three siblings predeceased him. His wife of 50 years, Phyllis (Mason) Bogdan, died in 1995, followed by their son Stanley Jr. in 1999. A granddaughter, Debra Doughty, was just 23 when she died in 2001 at her Florida home.

Like his father before him, Bogdan was a machinist by trade, inventing and perfecting his reel designs around his full-time jobs at the old Rollins Engine Co. and later, the former Nashua Industrial Machine.

The first S.E. Bogdan fly reel emerged from the tiny in-home workshop in 1940, marking the start of a nearly seven-decade enterprise that Bogdan, and many who knew him, would probably call a love affair.

Along the way, Bogdan was featured in a series of trade and mainstream publications, recent among them Monte Burke’s 2009 Forbes Magazine story on consumer items that would always be “recession-proof,” he wrote.

Upon learning of his death, Burke called Bogdan “perhaps the finest reelmaker the world of fly fishing has ever known” in a brief eulogy he posted on Forbes.com.

Fellow inventor and bamboo-rod craftsman Marc Aroner, on his Web site www.spinozarods.com, described Bogdan’s reels as “the hallmark of fine fly reels” whose “innovative and highly effective double-disc brake system, capable of stopping the strongest fish while maintaining incredible smoothness” as a key to their wide popularity.

Not one for big, flashy advertising or boisterous sales pitches at trade shows, Bogdan achieved notoriety and earned respect, one online tribute stated, by letting his product do the talking.

“He never advertised, yet he is known throughout the world,” it reads. “His reels dominate the salmon camps of famed Canadian rivers.”

Wrote Aroner on spinozarods.com: “To many of us in the fly fishing world, Bogdan was a legendary craftsman. To the very end, he relied solely on reputation, eschewing booths at fishing shows, catalogs, websites and other marketing devices that everyone else needed.

“If you wanted a Bogdan reel, you had to call the shop and get on his waiting list. That was how it worked.”

Dean Shalhoup can be reached at 673-3100, ext. 31, or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.