Stuart Dodge Obituary

Stuart Phelps Dodge died August 8, 2013, one week shy of his 92nd birthday. Stu was the eldest son of the late Stuart Phelps and Norma Wason Dodge of Colorado Springs. He was preceded in death by his wife of 50 years, Barbara, a brother, Peter Phelps Dodge, his sons, Stuart and Bruce, and numerous life-long friends. He is survived by his younger sister, Anne Herbert (Donald) of Mobile, Alabama, his daughter, Lee Teran (David Bristol) of San Antonio, Texas, his son, Gary Lassiter (Ruth), of Needham, Massachusetts, his grandchildren, Ruben Teran, Nora Teran and Colin Lassiter, three great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. He was born in Colorado Springs, lived in the community for most of his life, and now remains in the one place he never wanted to leave. Like many life-long residents of Colorado, Stu knew every mountain, river, and pass. His mother's family settled Creede, Colorado and as a teenager Stu rode through the southern mountains with his uncle Loren and a couple of pack horses. He was an avid skier, mountain climber and tennis player, and was a member of the Cheyenne Mountain Country Club for 67 years. He graduated from Fountain Valley School, attended Colorado College, and graduated from Yale (class of '44). During World War II, Stu served in the U.S. Army, 10th Mountain Division as a battalion sergeant major and was 120 miles off the coast of Japan when the Japanese surrendered. After the war he began a 39 year career as a civilian working for the Army, first as a ski and mountaineering instructor at Fort Carson, and later as a logistics specialist at Fort Carson, Fort Benning, Georgia, and for the Joint Chiefs at the Pentagon. Stu's happy marriage to Barbara became a great adventure after the kids had gone off to college. They traveled extensively in this country and overseas, including East Africa, Europe and England, Hawaii, raft trips down the Colorado River thru the Grand Canyon and later the Green River, a trip to Alaska, then mountain climbing in Ecuador, and a leisurely sail on the "Tigress" among the Galapagos Islands. He climbed most of the 14s in the state and in his 60's he climbed Pike's Peak numerous times, often passing teenagers who were too tired to continue. Then during the seven years that Barbara lived in assisted care, Stu visited her every day, often twice each day. After his long and successful career working with the military, Stu began a second career to improve local and state parks. He became immersed in city and county politics where, as he once explained, "It's all about building a consensus." He volunteered to serve on the El Paso County Parks Advisory Board and later on the Colorado Springs Parks and Recreation Department Advisory Board, eventually chairing both. Stu was a founding member of the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts, former executive director of The Palmer Foundation, past chairman of the Colorado Springs North Slope Watershed Advisory Committee, a Trustee of the Colorado State Historical Society, a board member of the Pioneer Museum Foundation, a former chairman of both the Pike's Peak Chapter and the Long Range Planning Committee for the Colorado Archeological Society, vice president of The Sachs Foundation, a member of the Pikes Peak Greenway Study Group, a board member of the Downtown Action Plan, a member of the Downtown Implementation Committee, a board member and secretary of the Colorado Mountain Reclamation Foundation, a member of the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments Bike/Pedestrian Trails Committee, a Trustee of The Garden of the Gods Foundation, a board member of The Mesa Springs Foundation, a member (by appointment from Governor Roy R. Romer) of the State Historic Preservation Review Board, and co-founder and board member of the 10th Mountain Division Foundation. He is the 1993 recipient of The John Venezia Memorial Award for outstanding commitment to the Community, and the 1995 recipient of the Robert M. Artz Award for Citizen Volunteer Leadership, an award given once a year to one person in the nation. Stu helped to build systems for acquiring open lands to benefit both the landowners and the state, and consequently, Colorado Springs and the State of Colorado have enormous tracks of land under public protection. In recognition of Stu's exceptional service to Colorado, setting a benchmark for conservation leadership throughout the state, the Palmer Land Trust annually honors an individual or organization with "The Stuart P. Dodge Lifetime Achievement Award." Stu was an inspiration to those who knew and worked with him and his passing is a great loss to Colorado. It is hard to imagine anyone who loved Colorado and its people more than Stu Dodge. A graveside service will be held at the Columbarium, Chapel of Our Savior, 8 Fourth Street, Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, Colorado on Saturday, August 17, 2013 at 12:30 p.m. There will be a reception following the ceremony. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Palmer Land Trust (www.palmerlandtrust.org), at 102 S. Tejon St., Colorado Springs, CO 80903, and the Broadmoor Garden Club, c/o Janene McCann, Treasurer, 46 W. Cheyenne Mountain Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80906.