Verna Marie Stoddard

On September 14, 2024 in Bedford, New Hampshire, Verna Marie Stoddard died like she lived: on her own terms. Verna was born in Lime Springs, Iowa on November 26, 1943 to Lydia and Vernon Howard. Verna was raised on her parents’ farm and in their restaurant, the Coffee Cup Café, where she learned what happens when you swear at the cook. From an early age, Verna relished her independence, her innate ability to drive fast cars well, and to speak her mind without regret. She put herself through college working as a professional bass clarinetist, eventually graduating with a degree in social work from the University of Northern Iowa. After college, Verna left the cornfields for tacos and pitchers of beer in Phoenix, Arizona, where she worked as a social worker helping other women learn to become financially independent. It was through this work that she met her future “Love,” Charles W. Stoddard, III. The couple eventually settled in beautiful Page, Arizona, where they lived for almost 50 years. 

Verna had several careers throughout her life, including owning a sporting goods store, The Sports Page, and managing the Lake Powell Yacht Club and later Charles’s law office, but the position that had the most lasting effect on her life was directing the Page-Lake Powell Air Affaire, which began in the early 1980s as a small balloon regatta over Lake Powell, and under Verna’s go-getter leadership, became bigger and better every year. Despite having severe motion sickness, Verna traveled the country to recruit world-renowned performers and learn every aspect of running a top-notch air show, resulting in the first Page-Lake Powell Air Affaire in 1986. Verna insisted on standing next to her air boss on the tower, Dramamine in hand, to ensure the show went off without a hitch. The air show drew thousands of spectators, and jaw-dropping performances over gorgeous Lake Powell. Verna did not pour her life into the Page-Lake Powell Air Affaire because she loved flying or enjoyed riding in balloon baskets (she never went up in a balloon); she persevered because it helped Page’s economy grow and provided new opportunities for the community Verna and her family loved. 

Verna and Charles retired in 2017 in Oro Valley, Arizona, where Verna was happy never to play golf again but enjoyed watching and commenting on others’ skills (or the lack thereof). It was there that Verna was diagnosed with the multiple myeloma that eventually riddled her body. Verna faced her cancer diagnosis head-on with her wicked dry wit, colorful four-letter words, and daily phone calls about the beautiful sunny weather to her loved ones living in snow country. Verna entered remission in 2023. In May 2024, Verna begrudgingly left the colorful desert sky to live closer to her youngest daughter, Kristine, in New Hampshire. While she loved the green trees, Verna never stopped telling anyone who would listen how cold it was in the Granite State.  

When Verna was no longer able to smoke her beloved Newports when and where she wanted to, Verna said her last “I love you.” She leaves behind her husband of nearly 53 years, Charles; her daughter, Kristine Stoddard; her son-in-law, Nathan Lavoie; grandchildren Anakin and Amelia Everhart, and Holden and Lydia Lavoie; her sister, Nancy Denning; many nieces, nephews, and cousins; and half the State of Iowa. Verna is now dancing in Heaven to Friends in Low Places with her parents; her sister, Maryanne Miller; her cousin, Mark Nichols; her dear friends, Dee Carpenter and Kate Deffke; and her first darlin,’ her oldest daughter, Sarah Stoddard.  

Verna was a trailblazer in her own right and will be remembered for her tenacity, her writing, her love of music, and her habit of sitting her girls down on their houseboat to talk about women’s rights, safe sex, and the importance of access to reproductive health care. A celebration of life will be held in New Hampshire when Charles and Kristine learn how to plan something without Verna’s help. A private interment will be held in Tucson, at Saint Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church. In lieu of flowers and tears, please consider donating to the Saint Philip’s in the Hills food pantry https://stphilipstucson.org/outreach.