- Date Of Birth: March 4, 1933
- Date Of Death: August 17, 2018
- State: Texas
March 4, 1933 – August 17, 2018
Dolores Mae Stoppelmoor, 85, of Boerne, passed peacefully into eternity August 17, 2018.
Dolores was born on March 4, 1933 in Huron, South Dakota to Paul H. and Lillian (Hein) Katz. Growing up in depression-era South Dakota she soon learned that renowned midwestern work ethic which would serve her well throughout her life. She married the love of her life, Marion Wayne (Stoppy) Stoppelmoor on January 15, 1949. Together they built a life, family and future. As a young couple struggling to make a good home for their four children, Dolores and Stoppy worked hard. She was blessed with enumerable talents, all of which she used to make the lives of her husband and children better. She was an accomplished seamstress, she hung wallpaper, reupholstered furniture, cut hair, and skillfully managed the family’s meager finances. While there was never much idle time, Dolores and Stoppy were experts on the dance floor. Waltz, foxtrot, polka and even some of the Latin steps were part of their repertoire as they danced through life arm in arm.
Dolores loved playing cards, was skilled at scrabble, crossword puzzles and cryptograms. Well known for her wit and sense of humor, she loved telling jokes, some of which made people blush. She raised her children to believe they could accomplish anything and to brave any challenge or pursue any goal they felt worthwhile. She called everyone “honey”, even strangers. She spent her life spreading love and joy to everyone lucky enough to have known her. On those rare occasions when criticism was earned, she applied it with such love and affection that she was dubbed “the velvet hammer”.
She was a person of deep faith, and though she practiced her love of God in a quietly personal way, she prayed every day.
Dolores was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at age 62. After the death of Stoppy, her beloved husband of 53 years, she was stricken with osteoarthritis as well. As the years progressed she taught us all a lesson in how to deal with pain. Eventually the disease took away all of her physical abilities, but it never touched her mind. It never touched her soul, and above all it never touched her sweet disposition. She continued to pour out her love on her family and friends to the last.
She is now, once again arm in arm with her beloved Stoppy as they dance a heavenly waltz for eternity.
She is survived by her daughters, Mary Ann Eichman (William) and Cheryl Ladd Russell (Brian); her sons, Brian Stoppelmoor (Vicky) and Seth Stoppelmoor (Kathi), her sister, Phyllis Buck; her brothers, Robert Katz (Christine), Eugene Katz (Bonnie), and Alan Katz (Shirley); her grandchildren, William R. “Billy” Eichman (Lauren), John J. Eichman (Camille), Jordan Ladd, Lindsay Russell Walker, Samuel Stoppelmoor, Katherine Stoppelmoor Leeper (Jonathan), Bennett, Barrett, and Brian Lee Stoppelmoor; her great-grandchildren, Ashley Ferrel (Chris), Raven, Emma, Annabelle, and Grace Ann Eichman, and Nehemiah, Judah, and Kailah Walker; her great-great-granddaughter, Margo Ferrel; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Dolores was preceded in death by her parents, Paul H. and Lillian; her brother Donald; her sisters, Frances Wulf and Verla Tepley; and her husband Marion Wayne Stoppelmoor.
