Susanne Lee “Susie” Stoddard, treasured Wife, Mother, Grandmother and Great-Grandmother, passed away at the age of 77, on January 20th, 2019 after emergency surgery in Lompoc, California. Susie was born in Portland, Oregon on September 20th, 1941 to the late Ruth Helen Farmer.
Susie was preceded in death by the love of her life, husband Leon Stoddard and siblings Tom and Diane Hazen. She is survived by her sister Monna and husband Jim Pachot, (Portland, Oregon) son Mark and wife Michelle (Owasso, Oklahoma), daughter Cherie and husband Chris Acosta (Beaumont, Texas), daughter Julie and husband Mark Cardwell (Folsom, California), son Curtis (Lompoc, California), son Colin and wife Emmanuelle (Jacksonville, Florida), grandchildren Sarah, Joshua, Ashley, Kasey, Rachael, Bryce and wife Sadie, Grant, Ian, Ani, Ashton, and great- grandchildren Scarlett and Adam.
Susie loved life and her family to the fullest. One of her favorite sayings was “Life is better when you’re laughing”. She enjoyed people and loved to brighten other’s day with her sense of humor and vivacious attitude. Although she suffered from illness and loss, she faced life with a sense of joy and gratitude. A skilled musician, she also worked as a bank teller, CASA Court Advocate for children and elderly advocate. She served as the “Queen Bee” of the Santa Barbara Red Hat Society and enjoyed close friendships with the women she served. She was an accomplished accordionist, conductor and singer, teaching students accordion for many years and playing in combos in the 60’s and 70’s. Susie possessed an extremely bright mind and in her later years loved connecting with family and friends from all over the world on Facebook, never shy with her opinion on matters of the day, politics or words of encouragement and empowerment.
Susie’s greatest accomplishment was being the rock solid loving matriarch of her family, always willing to sacrifice her time and advice to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all of which are grateful for her loving mentorship, kindness and example. She was cared for by all of her family, especially her son Curtis, who was her caretaker for the last few years of her life. The Celebration of Life for Susie will occur in the spring in Lompoc, California. We will miss our Susie, an inspiring motivator, true friend and loving mentor to all.
