SEQUIM — It is the story of a selfless hero who dove to the ground, covering his wife to protect her from a gunman’s hail of bullets.
Mavy Stoddard lived.
Dorwan Stoddard, her beloved husband who lived in Sequim during the late 1980s and early ’90s, did not.
Their childhood love story ended Saturday morning in Tucson, Ariz., when Jared Loughner, 22, allegedly fired into a crowd, shooting U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, 40, through the head in what federal and state authorities believe was an assassination attempt.
Besides Stoddard, five others — including a federal judge — died, and Mavy Stoddard was among 13 wounded.
Dorwan Stoddard and his wife of 16 years, who was shot three times in the leg but is expected to survive, were attending a Giffords gathering with constituents in front of a Safeway supermarket in Tucson when the shooting began.
Until the early 1990s, Dorwan Stoddard lived in Sequim for more than 10 years and was known at Faith Baptist Church as a Mr. Fixit, always willing to volunteer and one who lived by the Golden Rule.
He was remembered Monday as the kind of person who always shared his skills and kindness without thinking twice.
“He was our rock and he was our hero, even in life,” said Terry Stoddard, whose husband, Ron, is one of Mr. Stoddard’s two sons from his first marriage that ended with the death of his first wife, Arlene.
Ron and Terry Stoddard, who live in the area between Sequim and Port Angeles, were planning to visit Tucson to be with family members and attend funeral services.
He works for an excavation company; she is a longtime Peninsula Daily News carrier.
“He died as he lived,” his daughter-in-law said while on the verge of tears.
She called Dorwan Stoddard her “second dad.”
“He loved helping people,” she recalled. “You didn’t have to ask. He was just there.”
Everyone who knew Dorwan Stoddard thought he would die of complications from one of his 17 heart stents, or during one his numerous construction projects at Tucson’s Mountain Avenue Church of Christ, where he was a former pastor.
During his latest project, he fell 20 feet when a ladder buckled.
“There huge hole has left in our hearts,” Terry Stoddard said.
“Everyone who knew him loved him. I never met anyone who did not like Dorwan Stoddard.”
The couple had been grade-school sweethearts, growing up in Tucson.
After their respective spouses died, they independently moved back to Arizona to retire, became reacquainted and fell in love all over again.
Then came the tragedy Saturday morning at Rep. Giffords’ “Meet the Congresswoman” event in front of the supermarket.
Mavy Stoddard talked to her husband, who was shot in the head, for 10 minutes while he breathed heavily, The Associated Press reported.
Then the man she married on a Valentine’s Day in 1994 stopped breathing.
“They married in Tucson, had a wonderful time together,” Terry Stoddard said. “They did everything together. They traveled, they had a church family.
“There were very much in love.”
She said the FBI has already contacted her and her husband to make arrangements for family security.
“Once we get down there, I guess we are going to be under security watch,” she said.
Sequim Faith Baptist Church Pastor Lonnie Jacobson, who in 2008 officiated over the funeral of Dorwan Stoddard’s brother, Richard, said he met Dorwan.
“He was a very godly man, a real handyman,” Jacobson said. “He did a lot of work around the church property.”
Stoddard moved back to Tucson before the church was moved from the site of what is now The Home Depot to its current location at 7652 Old Olympic Highway, near the Dungeness River.
Jacobson said he announced Mr. Stoddard’s death at Sunday’s service.
“We had prayer for the family,” he said.
Faith Baptist member Daniel Gautschi called Mr. Stoddard a good friend.
“I had some leaky pipes in my trailer and he came over and fixed them,” Gautschi recalled.
“He then starting fixing other things, all for free.
“He just loved helping people. Also, he helped the poor.
“He would fix it and I would learn something.”
Gautschi recalled going to breakfast with his friend and meeting him for church-related functions.
“He had a servant’s heart. If you got a flat tire, he’d be the first to pull over, whether he knew you or not.”
“He’s like the Golden Rule guy.”
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
