Richard "Rick" Craig Stoddard

Rick (Richard Craig) Stoddard, beloved husband, father, grandfather, mentor and friend, died Thursday, November 21st, 2024, following a nearly four-year valiant battle with sarcoma cancer.

He was born on November 23rd, 1950 to Gilbert and Marion, and raised in Jesup, Iowa. While his youth was packed full of sports, school, and church activities, his real passion was the Boy Scouts. He earned his Eagle Rank with a Gold, two Silver, and one Bronze Palms, the God and Country Award, and achieved Vigil rank in the Order of the Arrow. From there he went on to work for eight years in the regional scout camp, Ingawanis, and had one stint teaching at the National Camp Training School. Until Kaiser, this was the best job he ever had. 

After graduating as Salutatorian of his Jesup High School class in 1969 he attended the University of Iowa, where he received his Bachelor of Business Administration with the highest distinction in 1972. He was also an Accounting major and received his CPA certificate (not licensed) shortly thereafter. He was named Most Outstanding Senior for academic excellence by the college faculty. He was a member of Beta Alpha Psi and Beta Gamma Sigma fraternities. 

Following his graduation from the University of Iowa, Rick attended the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington DC, where he received his JD in 1976. Rick specialized in tax courses whenever possible, including a significant portion of his third year of law school, and obtained his LLM in tax. He also participated in the brief writing and editing for the impeachment proceedings of former President Richard M. Nixon, under the direction of Sherman Cohn and Sam Dash. 

Upon graduating from Georgetown, Rick joined the law firm of Calkins, Kramer, Grimshaw, & Harring in Denver, Colorado. After eight years, Rick moved to the law firm Roath & Brega, P.C., also in Denver. During his twelve years of practice, Rick specialized in tax, corporate, and merger and acquisition transactions. He represented many clients, including the Frontier Airlines Employee Coalition, Empire Savings Building and Loan Association in its acquisition activities, Central Bank of Denver, Glacier Park Real Estate, JRA Sports (as the minority owner of the Denver Broncos in the sale to Patrick Bowlen), Mobile Land Development in their tax-exempt financing, and Group W Cable in their bid for the city of Denver, among others. 

As he decided to end his legal practice, Rick was named Chief Executive Officer of Kaiser Steel Resources (latter called Kaiser Ventures) in June 1988 and held such position and/or the position of Chairman of the Board until the termination of such company on June 30, 2023. Kaiser Ventures was the reorganized success of a portion of Kaiser Steel Corporation, which, when operating, was the largest steel mill west of the Mississippi. Rick was instrumental in leading the company out of bankruptcy and in rehabilitating the former Kaiser Steel mill site near Fontana, California. His efforts resulted in the company being involved in such projects as the construction of a first-class NASCAR speedway. 

Under Rick’s leadership the company received an award from the State of California for its environmental remediation at the former steel mill site. Rick led Kaiser in the creation of an innovative long-term lease of the Company’s water rights, which eventually led to the sale of such water rights for approximately $80 million. Rick was perhaps most proud of the fact that under his leadership he was able to help restore the medical benefits lost by over 7,000 former employees of Kaiser Steel. Until July 1999 he always served on the Board of Directors of Penske Motorsports, Inc. ("PMI") when International Speedway Corporation acquired PMI.

Beyond his professional accomplishments, Rick was also an avid supporter of Children’s Hospital Colorado; he had a personal connection to Children’s Colorado through his children’s health journeys. He and his wife Janie donated generously to several areas in the hospital, specifically those that treated his children. They established the Abby Stoddard Lectureship in Neurology Endowment, which provides an annual lectureship series; the Stoddard Lynch Professorship in pediatric urology; and the Gregor Stoddard Visiting Professorship in Neonatology Endowment, which provides an annual visiting professorship in Neonatology and Maternal Fetal Medicine.

In addition to his unwavering philanthropic support, Rick’s leadership legacy is marked by his dedication to the Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation Board of Trustees, which he joined in 1995 and led as Board Chair in 2017-2019 and as a member of the Executive Committee. Rick guided governance of the Foundation, including helping to establish the principal gifts program. Rick was honored for his board leadership in 2023 with an appointment as Trustee Emeritus.

Rick dedicated nearly 10 years of leadership and service to the Children’s Hospital Colorado Board of Directors and served on the Children’s Hospital Colorado Research Committee and the Gates Biomanufacturing Facility Advisory Board. 

Rick approached his work – professional or personal – with an open mind and a thoughtful perspective. Although he regretted not having more talents in the realm of basketball and golf, he thought that, “in law and later in business, I really did develop a knack for seeing a problem, dispute, or negotiation from the other person’s point of view. In many many instances, this helped find a solution that otherwise couldn’t be reached. When you can find issues that are far more important to the other side and don’t mean as much to you (and vice versa) these make excellent opportunities to compromise on things to help get a deal done. Not a bad life strategy either.”

Not just an accomplished professional, Rick was also the head of a large, loving, blended family with his wife, Janie. His love for Janie was evident to all, and he believed meeting Janie changed his life. He shared, “Janie makes me smile and laugh every single day. She wakes up every day in such a happy, upbeat mood that it is impossible not to be happy yourself, even if it takes me 2 or 3 cups of coffee to catch up with her. No doubt in my mind my happiest time in my life started in February 1997, and is still going strong.”

Rick was passionate about travel and some of his favorite destinations include: several African safaris, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Israel, China, Nepal, Bhutan, India, The Galapagos, South America, Russia, all of Europe and Mexico as well as much of the US and Canada. He loved the annual summer vacations to Lake Powell, and later golfing trips with the “Lads of Loyalty” and his kids. He shared, “I can’t say I’ve ever regretted taking any trip I’ve done. But many of them have “been there,” “done that”. That is what is so wonderful about travel. You never quite know what your experience will be and what will bring you back!!!”

Rick is survived by his wife Janie Stoddard, his brother and sister in-law Greg and Robin Stoddard, his children Gregor Stoddard (husband Will McCarthy and daughter Sienna), Abby Burgess (husband Adam Burgess and daughter Marlie), Trip Stoddard (wife Dama Stoddard and their children Zoe, Finley and Bodi), and by stepchildren - Patrick Lynch (wife Caitlin Lynch and daughter Catherine), Sean Lynch (wife Mackenzie Lynch and son Ford) and Kate Lynch. Rick is also survived by the many friends he impacted during his life through his values and joy which will live on. May his memory be a blessing. 

A celebration of life will be held, Monday December 16th 2024 at the Denver Country Club. In lieu of flowers, please direct donations to Children’s Hospital Colorado Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.