- Date Of Birth: May 18, 1928
- Date Of Death: October 14, 2018
- State: Idaho
Floyd Hodge Timmerman, Uncle Tim, as he was called by his nieces and nephews, passed away on October 14, 2018, at the age of 90 of causes incident to age.
He was born May 18, 1928, in Salt Lake City, Utah. His father was Floyd Albert Timmerman who had passed away six months before Tim was born. His father was a correspondent working for the Ogden Standard Examiner and the Salt Lake Tribune when he was killed reporting on the first passenger airline flight from Salt Lake City to Butte Montana. Tim’s mother was Jean Fife Hodge who was left to raise Tim and his two sisters, Hazel Timmerman Taylor and Betty Jean Timmerman Stoddard, on her own.
When Tim was about a year old it became apparent that his brain was not developing properly and as a result he was mentally handicapped for the rest of his life. Tim was able to learn to read and write at an elementary level, and do basic math. But in spite of his handicap he displayed an amazing talent for word working. He learned to operate the tools necessary to build doll houses and doll furniture. He became well known in the area for his work and won many handicraft events at the Utah State Fair. As he grew into middle age Tim learned to paint pictures.
When Betty died in 1996, Tim moved to Oregon and lived with his nephew Robert Stoddard and his wife, Julia. He continued his handicraft in Oregon eventually retiring in 2010, from the wood shop and painting. Tim had many nieces and nephews that adored him, they thought of him as “one of Santa’s little helpers” as he worked to create wonderful toys and gifts. Growing up his nieces and nephews loved to spend time with him in the wood shop, and especially they loved to play with the items he created. Many of these items have been passed along to their own children.
