LaRae Cornia Stoddard

There are people whose lives pass without the world at large hardly noticing, who, despite their relative anonymity, have filled this world with a goodness that defies our imagination. Such a person was LaRae Cornia Stoddard, who passed away peacefully the morning of July 16, 2024 due to cancer. She was 89. At her side at her time of death were all of her living children: James (JoNell) Stoddard, Paul (Shelley) Stoddard, Laura (Mark) Belk, Lisa (Jeff) Reeves, and Amy (Reed) Hunter. Her family was also deeply grateful that LaRae’s granddaughter, Alaina Hatch and her husband, Matthew Hatch, who served as caretakers, companions, and nurses to LaRae in her waning years, were at her side as well. 

LaRae was born on May 28, 1935 in the house she grew up in to Ada Viola Harbertson and Willam Edward Cornia in South Weber, Utah on idyllic farmland at the mouth of Weber Canyon, where she lived with her three siblings, Elda, Bessie and Ivan Cornia - all of whom preceded her in death. On her farm, LaRae formed a special bond with her animals, in particular her horses, which LaRae, in younger years, had to, with her father’s help, covertly learn to ride because her mother was terrified at the thought of such a young girl hopping on a horse. She quickly became an expert rider, herding cows and accompanying her father on horseback as they attended to his duties as the head water master of the South Weber District. 

LaRae was acquainted with loss at an early age, losing her mother to cancer just five months after she married Darrell J Stoddard in the Salt Lake Temple at the age of 21 on December 10, 1956, and losing her sisters, Elda and Bessie, in the prime of their lives. LaRae was also preceded in death by seven years by her husband, Darrell, and by 20 years her son, Mark (Pattie) Stoddard, who passed away prematurely at the age of 44. Those who knew her well attest to the fact that, somewhat counterintuitively, her acquaintance with grief only made her disposition more cheery, warm, compassionate, and outward reaching. Some might call those attributes her superpowers. 

Another superpower was her skill as a meticulous gardener, a passion she shared with Darrell, both of whom spent countless hours from spring through fall, laboring with love in their marvelous garden, marked with perfectly manicured hedges, vibrant and diverse flowers from romantic roses, to brilliant hibiscus and peonies, to towering sunflowers, anchored by a bounteous portion that produced perhaps the world’s zestiest tomatoes, mouthwatering pickled beans, delectable rhubarb pie, and raspberry jam that forever ruined her family’s experience with anything store-bought. LaRae would painstakingly measure her vegetable rows, and align them with strings to ensure perfectly straight rows. Her children recall being fed primarily by the bountiful harvest from that glorious garden, year after year, throughout the late summer and fall.

And yet fruits, flowers, and vegetables were her second, third, and fourth favorite things to cultivate. Her favorite seeds to plant were with her family. Rarely a Sunday passed for almost 50 years where she didn’t host two to three dozen children, grandchildren (31), great grandchildren (49) - and friends of all those people - plus a few strangers who were always welcomed. LaRae perfected the dying art of listening. Unlike most, she was not quick to share her two cents the moment the lips stopped flapping of the person with whom she was communicating. LaRae was a safe-place for many because of her ability to listen without judgment. Her rare skill of listening might also explain how she - even in her later years when change is often a challenge - proved capable of changing her mind, and was always trying to be better and different from what she was the previous year. And while she had a firm testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and was a lifelong, faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - where she served in many capacities from the Primary to the Young Women’s organizations to decades of organ and piano accompaniment - she wasn’t afraid of loving and accepting anyone who didn’t share her same faith perspective. That is perhaps because LaRae never seemed compelled to convince anyone that she was right about anything. She seemed less concerned with being right and more concerned with getting it right with the people she loved.

 LaRae planted seeds with grandchildren, great children and expecting mothers in her ward by crocheting dozens and dozens of baby blankets for them, and tying quilts for the same crowd, finishing the blind-stiched edging by hand. Her magic fingers proved dextrous up until just weeks before she passed. Her grandchildren also speak nostalgically of working on complex 1000+ piece puzzles with grandma, and in sharing in grandma’s “medicine” – her secret stash of chocolate that she sometimes hid from her health-conscious sweetheart, Darrell, who lovingly didn’t always approve of its consumption. It should be noted that Darrell lived 6 years less than LaRae, so perhaps she was onto something with her love of chocolate. 

Finally, besides being a highly successful mother of six contributing members of society, LaRae also practiced several other vocations throughout her life, including piano teaching, medical assisting, and serving as the Postmaster for a satellite office of the US Postal Service located in her neighborhood grocery store, Day’s Market, where patrons came to know her as one the most pleasant postal workers they had ever met. That, of course, is not surprising, considering that one of LaRae’s greatest strengths was her consistency. Because she was without guile and pretense, it was quite natural for her to be the same person at home, at work, at church, and at play. It is no wonder that Darrell once wrote of LaRae, “The story begins when I married above myself to my eternal sweetheart - the pivotal point in my earthly existence. Everything I was before I owe to my good parents. Everything thereafter I owe to my darling wife.”

Funeral services will be held in her honor on Tuesday, July 23, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. at the Edgemont 7th Ward LDS Chapel located at 555 East 3230 North, Provo, Utah. A viewing for family and friends will be held the prior evening (Monday, July 22) from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Sundberg Olpin Mortuary located at 495 South State Street in Orem, and on Tuesday just prior to the service from 9:00 to 10:30 am at the church. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Nurturing Nations, a charity loved by LaRae and run by her daughter, Laura, and son-in-law, Mark. This charity serves some of the world’s most vulnerable children.

Condolences may be expressed to the family on this page.

For those unable to attend the services they can be viewed by clicking HERE