Aaron Lee Stoddard, the son of Wm. Henry and Catherine Stoddard, was born October 5, 1920, in Twin Falls, Idaho, and passed away 2010, at the age of 90 years. Lee was born into a Mormon family, the tenth child in a family of thirteen, nine boys and four girls. He had a lifelong respect for Mormon family values and a love for the beauty and history of the American West. He had a very independent spirit and personality, a trademark of his pioneer heritage, particularly of his great-grandfather, Jefferson Hunt. Lee spent the first thirteen years in the Twin Falls, Idaho, area. As a boy, Lee watched the construction of the Rim-to-Rim Bridge over the Snake River Canyon. When Lee was a freshman in high school, the family moved to a ranch in Salmon, Idaho, where Lee helped farm, raising potatoes and sugar beets. He became an expert in irrigation and an outstanding marksman with his rifle, hunting for food for the family table.
In the summer of 1937, Lee returned to Twin Falls to live with his sister where he was graduated from high school in 1938. He returned to the Salmon ranch to assist with the farming and the dairy herd. In 1940, Lee enlisted in the Navy and was sent to San Diego for training. After graduating from Fire Control School in March 1941, Lee was sent to Pearl Harbor and stationed aboard the battleship NEVADA on which he served for three years. During the attack on Pearl Harbor, Lee’s job was to fire the big 16-inch guns to help ward off the Japanese fighter planes. The NEVADA was docked next to the ARIZONA when the ARIZONA was sunk. The NEVADA was the only battleship that got underway during the attack, later beached on Hospital Point. Later the ship was raised and sent to Bremerton, WA for repairs, returning to service to ferry troops to Europe for D-Day. Lee was with the NEVADA when it was active in Aleutian Islands. Lee was a member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, attending the 60th anniversary of the attack in Hawaii in 2001.
After three years aboard ship Lee applied for the V-12 education program and was accepted. He attended the University of Minnesota and Notre Dame, receiving his commission in August, 1945. Discharged from the Navy in December of 1945, Lee returned to Salmon to help on the ranch. He also spent several months working for the forest service, riding the mountain trails on horseback.
Lee met his future wife, Roberta Thomas, of Orient, Iowa, on a troop train in 1945. He decided to return to school at the University of Iowa in fall of 1946 to pursue a degree in business. Lee and Roberta were married in September 1947, and Lee graduated from the University of Iowa in March, 1949. While in Iowa City attending school, Lee worked as a journeyman electrician, helping install the first stoplight in Iowa City. He also wired many homes and did electrical repair work most of his life. In March 1949, he was hired by The Maytag Company in Newton, Iowa and spent the next 15 years in the service department, including four years in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, training service personnel throughout the northeast about the new automatic washer. His oldest daughter, Karen, was born in Harrisburg and when she was 2 ½ years old, Lee transferred back to the home office where he spent the next 14 years. During that time, his second daughter, Carolyn, and his third daughter, Debra, were born. During his time in Newton, Lee was very proud of developing the “Red Carpet” campaign for the service department along with “Old Lonely” ad that ran for 17 years. He was acquainted with the star of the ad, Jessie White, and he and Roberta had dinner with him a few times. Maytag Appliances required very little maintenance and it was a memorable and successful ad. Lee was a long-time member of the Home Appliance Manufacturing Association and as a result, testified before a congressional subcommittee regarding warranty bills which were successfully implemented.
During his years in Newton, Lee attended the United Methodist Church, joined the Elks and the Masons, and was active in the Maytag Management Club. He started the Toastmaster’s Club for professional businessmen and was a member of the Investment Club. Lee enjoyed bridge, poker, ballroom dancing, and music of many kinds. He was an avid reader of history, biography and philosophy. During the years in Ripon, the family acquired a West Highland Terrier, Missy, which added to the female population of his family. Lee always said, “I live in a house of wall-to-wall women.”
In 1964, Lee was recruited to be Service Manager by Speed Queen of Ripon, WI. He and his family moved to Ripon where he was Service Manager for 15 years. During his time at Speed Queen, Lee reorganized the service department very successfully and also traveled throughout the United States, enjoying the distributors with whom he kept in touch for many years. In Ripon, Lee started another Toastmaster’s Club. In 1979, Lee and Roberta moved to Denver, CO to work for an appliance/parts distributor. Lee also held a commercial real-estate license and sold signage to many businesses and hotels throughout Colorado.
In Denver, Lee continued his lifelong love of learning, reading extensively and attending classes in philosophy at Denver University. Along with credits from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Lee earned the equivalent of a Master’s Degree. He continued his interest in bridge, became a charter member of Gateway Rotary Club, was active in square dancing group, worked in the yard and garden, and had a big interest in new and old cars on the market. Lee attended Cherry Hills Community Church and participated in the Men’s Bible Study Group. One of Lee’s favorite pastimes was enjoying a daily dish of vanilla ice cream, sharing it with a friend, if possible.
Lee is survived by his wife of 63 years, Roberta; daughters, Karen (Dave) Duehring, Ripon/Green Lake, WI; Carolyn Stoddard, Muskego, WI; and Debra (Mark) Jessop, Denver, CO; two granddaughters, Eliza Stoddard Leatherberry and Gillian Stoddard Leatherberry, both of Chicago, IL; and also a brother, Frank Stoddard of Salmon, ID, and many nieces and nephews.
Lee enjoyed his family first and then so many wonderful friends who stayed in touch all of his life. He enjoyed traveling, including cruises to Alaska and through the Panama Canal, several countries in Europe and every state in the Union. No matter where he traveled or lived, Lee retained a healthy skepticism for a “flatlander,” always considering himself a “mountain man.”
In lieu of flowers, a memorial will be established in Lee’s memory with The Aurora Gateway Rotary Club Foundation, 3455 S. Corona St #814 in Englewood, CO 80113, or contributions can be made to the donor’s favorite charity in Lee’s name.
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