Grandpa Tom

Thomas Reed Stoppenbach | July 17, 1923 to December 8, 2013

• The first time I head the song "Somethin' Stupid" by Frank Sinatra & Nancy Sinatra I was sitting in my grandpa's room with him at his house. This song came on the TV and he started singing along. It always makes me think of him. 
• Grandpa was a WWII veteran. He glided into Holland and was captured. He was transported in a boxcar to a prison camp and held there for seven months during which time he kept a journal. 
• My grandpa was a carpenter by hobby. He made many things for me including bookcases, a desk, a swing, a nativity set, and a hope chest. 
• Although this occurred before my time, Grandpa was a teacher too.
• Grandpa loved the Cubs. Family pictures show me sporting a Cubs hat by fourth grade. I thought sports were absolutely boring, but I liked to sit with Grandpa in his room while he watched the game on TV and listened to the broadcast on his headphones. His favorite phrase during these occasions was "God damn it".
• Although it was okay for Grandpa to cuss out the Cubs, he frowned upon swearing in general. Once, I used the f-word (the one and only time I swore in front of him) after I was stung by a bee, which was so severe I had to go to the ER for a shot. As I was crying in agony, Grandpa scolded me for using such awful language. "Don't worry, Grandpa...I'm fiiiine!"
• Humming. Grandpa was always humming something, especially while he worked. He was like one of the Seven Dwarfs. 
• Grandpa loved to read. He could sit and read for hours at a time like I can. 
• Grandpa was very old-fashioned. After reading a biography about Clint Eastwood he expressed how didn't care for Eastwood anymore after learning of his womanizing ways. And he didn't like to read books that were too racy either... :)
• Whenever Grandpa kissed me on the cheek, he made this loud smacking sound with his lips. 
• I hung out in Grandpa's bedroom--which was also like his living room--a lot when I was a kid. I always wanted to know what he was watching, or listening to, or reading, or tinkering with...
• Grandpa enjoyed having breakfast at a dirty-spoon diner. He often walked to these locales and when I still lived in Watertown I occasionally would see him on his walks. After I graduated from college and before I moved to Arizona, I was a waitress at the Rose Garden Cafe, which Grandpa frequented nearly every day for his poached eggs. 
• Grandpa usually spelled my name with a C and signed his letters "Uncle Tom". Even so, I always appreciated the thought.
• He was very generous. He sent many-a Christmas check and helped me make up the difference in my tuition one semester. 
• Grandpa liked old movies and music. I watched (or, sat through) many old flicks with Grandpa when I was little.
• Grandpa had a hideous green chair that sat in the living room of my grandparents' house. This is where he read the paper and watched the nightly news. I often sat in his chair and pretended to be him.
• Grandpa loved food. When he ate apples, he ate the whole thing--core and all. He also loved angel-food cake and strawberries.
• Grandpa tricked me with the usual pranks: opting for a nickel over a dime because of the size difference and convincing me that eating watermelon seeds would make watermelons grow in your belly.
• When he still lived in his house, Grandpa puttered around in the basement from morning until supper. He had a "wood shop" down there and he'd fix things, and make things, and break things...
• Grandpa liked to travel and he liked to drive everywhere. When I was very young I took many day-trips with him around Wisconsin. 
• I was sort-of a nuisance as a kid and I often pestered my grandpa. In addition to the multitude of "What's this?" and "What's this do?" questions while he was working, I also played a lot of tricks on him. One time I hid behind his chair and waited until he sat down and then I attached alligator clips to his ears. (That didn't go over well, and I never did it again!)
• One of my favorite memories of Grandpa was in January of this year. I was home and he was ill. I was leaving and it was a hard time in both our lives. I said, "I love you so much, Grandpa" and he responded "Not as much as I love you."

  

  Cousin Ryan, me, Grandma, and Grandpa 2005

  
  

  

  Grandpa's Birthday at Uncle Dan's house

  
  

  

  I'm pretty sure Grandpa kept these gifts for 25 years...

  
  

  

  Christmas with Grandpa & Uncle Dan.
  Apparently it was an ugly sweater contest for me.

  
  

  

  Eating grapes and reading the paper, like Grandpa

  
  

  

  Dan, Grandpa, and me on Grandpa's 89th Birthday

  
  

  

  Grandpa with his signed Fergie Jenkins's book

  
  

  

  Another birthday of Grandpa's

  
  

  

  Grandma, Mom, me-with-Cubs-hat and Charlie, and Grandpa

  
  

  

  Reading the inscription on Grandpa's Fergie Jenkins's book

  
  

  

  Grandpa and Uncle Dan

  
  

  

  January 2013

  
  

  

  July 17, 2013 ~ Grandpa's 90th Birthday