Wallace Stubbs

Wallace Bedford Stubbs (Tam), aged 88, passed away peacefully in the Holly Creek Assisted Living community on Thursday, February 4, 2021 after a long struggle with dementia.

He was born in 1932 in La Junta, CO to parents Charles and Annie Stubbs; joining a sister, four year old, Jeann Stubbs. Young Wallace was given the nickname, “Tam”, which is a Scottish nickname for Thomas, because he closely resembled his grandfather, Thomas Wallace. From that point on, he was known to family, friends and business associates as Tam Stubbs.

Tam often commented that he couldn’t have asked for a better childhood growing up in the small town of La Junta. He was active in school, sports and the Boy Scouts.  Unfortunately, Tam severely injured his ankle playing hockey when he was 11 years old and developed a serious staph infection with the prognosis of amputation. Being in a military family, an opportunity to try the relatively new drug, penicillin, was offered. Tam and his family boarded a military transport to Fitzsimmons Military Hospital in Denver.  There, housed next to wounded servicemen from WWII, he was treated and his leg was saved.

Tam resumed his interest in sports after his accident.  He excelled at basketball where he was a member of the 1949 Colorado State Champion, La Junta Tigers. He was also an active participant in the local Boy Scout Troop 232 where he earned his Eagle Scout Award.  The troop is known for its nationally known Koshare Dancers where the scouts perform traditional Pueblo Native American dances. Tam performed with the Koshares all over the country including Red Rocks and Madison Square Garden.

In 1950, his family relocated to Williamsburg, VA.  There, during his senior year in high school, Tam starred on the Matthew Whaley School basketball team.  The coaches at the College of William & Mary took notice of Tam’s skills and offered him a full athletic scholarship.  While attending W&M, Tam met a pretty coed from Wisconsin, Carla Rodehaver.  She was attending W&M on an academic scholarship. The couple fell in love and were married in 1956.

After a 2 year stint in the Army, Tam landed a job in pharmaceutical sales with Wyeth Labs. The married couple settled down in the small town of Staunton, VA to raise a family. Their first child, Marcia, was born in 1958 soon to be followed by Mark, in 1961. Carla had developed severe asthma and the climate of Virginia was becoming detrimental to her health.  Carla was treated for her asthma at the National Jewish Hospital in Denver, CO. The dry Denver air, proximity to National Jewish and desire to return to Colorado prompted the family to move to Aurora, CO in 1970. Tam continued to pursue his love of sports by taking up running and skiing.  He also enjoyed the Colorado Mountains with countless camping, fishing and backpacking trips.  Tam continued in sales with Wyeth Labs, Carla was a homemaker, Marcia and Mark finished high school and went off to college. Later, having been offered a district manager position, Tam and Carla moved to Des Moines, IA for a couple of years.  A few Iowa winters prompted a move back to Colorado, this time to Boulder.  There, after a 40 year career with Wyeth, Tam retired. He became active in the Boulder Roadrunners Club and routinely won his age bracket in the annual Boulder Bolder races.

Sadly, Carla succumbed to her heath issues and passed away in June of 1993. It was a devastating loss to the family.  Tam never remarried and lived as a widower for the rest of his life. After Carla’s death, Tam resumed his love of travel.  He took yearly fishing trips that included destinations such as Canada and Alaska.  He traveled to Europe several times as well as to Africa. His favorite trips were African safaris.  Tam climbed Africa’s highest peak, 19,000 foot Mt. Kilimanjaro at 70 years of age.

Although Tam remained very active, his memory began to falter in his senior years to a point where he was no longer able to live independently.  He moved to Holly Creek Assisted Living where he lived for the remainder of his life. He is survived by his daughter Marcia, son Mark, his daughter-in-law, Melissa and Tam’s grandson, Christopher.

Donations, in lieu of flowers, can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association of Colorado.