Written by Sarah Kyle
Almost one month ago, 2004 Harding graduate and photographer Bonnie Rose was enjoying a bittersweet Saturday morning in Tucson with her two sons.The trio had met Rose’s mother and sister at a local diner to remember a life lost; Bonnie’s father, who died in 2008 while biking home from work, had always loved the pancakes, she said.Thirty minutes after she left the restaurant, the Tucson community was shattered as Jared Lee Loughner opened fire at U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ local meet and greet, killing several in attendance and leaving Giffords and others critically wounded.By the end of the day, Rose would pay tribute to not one life, but six. Among the dead was Dorwan Stoddard, a role model, friend and fellow Mountain Avenue Church of Christ member.Reports of Stoddard’s heroic death on Jan. 8, circulated the nation for days after the shooting. He had attended the event with his wife, Mavy. When Loughner opened fire, Stoddard dove in front of Mavy, saving her life and losing his own.Mavy was shot three times and is currently battling severely infected gunshot wounds in her legs and is restricted to using a wheelchair, Rose said.Rose first met Stoddard, 76, when she moved to Tucson to live with her parents while her husband, Harding graduate Ryan Aherin, was at basic training for the Air Force. In 2010, she returned to Tucson until Aherin completes his tour in Hawaii.Rose said that since her return to Arizona and Mountain Avenue Church of Christ, where Stoddard and his wife, Mavy, attended, Stoddard was an active part of the church and local community, offering to help Rose fix electrical issues in her house a short time before his death.”Since I moved back until the tragedy in Tucson, I have heard his name brought up in conversation more often than any other person I know in this area,” Rose said. “When I had heard the initial word of his passing, this was a truth that came to mind immediately in dealing with the shock that he was gone. Everyone around me knew Dorwan Stoddard and was impacted by his life.”Stoddard was a man of character and loved until the day he died, Rose said.”Everyone who knows Dorwan and Mavy will tell you that where one was, the other was right there,” Rose said. “What has impacted me was that just in the way Dorwan lived his life a hero to Mavy and everyone he impacted, he died a hero, protecting his wife in the midst of gunfire.”Each victim has a story, Rose said, adding that there are fewin Tucson who have not been affected by the shooting.”No one expects something like this to happen in your community,” she said.As time passes, Rose said she hopes to see a renewed Tucson, with citizens inspired and thoughtful of the lives lost and those forever changed.”My hope is that through the tragedy that people can hear about Dorwan and his life, and in turn go out in their lives and help others around them in a humble servitude,” Rose said. “Life is too short, and we should love those around us and show them how much we love them every day.”
