WESTMINSTER-After over half a century of service to the Westminster/Rockingham area, John T. Stoodley of John T's Appliance Repair is retiring.
Known as "John T" all his life, Stoodley began his career in 1972 after graduating as part of the first class at the new Bellows Falls Union High School in Westminster.
He went to work for Donat Perrault, who owned and operated Perrault's Appliance at the time. Perrault also happened to be the father of Stoodley's high school girlfriend, Suzie Perrault. The couple married in 1974 and celebrated their 51st anniversary in July.
Stoodley helped run his father-in-law's appliance store until starting his own business, John T's Appliance Repair, in 1997.
He said he has probably repaired appliances "in just about every house in the area," and a partial list of customers compiled a few years ago contained more than 3,000 names.
But Stoodley has made his mark in his community far beyond being the go-to guy for refrigeration and appliance problems.
A life of athletics
Stoodley was well-known in the community from early in his life. A lifelong athlete, he had an outstanding high school career in cross country and track and field for Bellows Falls.
He was a part of the 1968 state cross country championship team and was selected as the team's most valuable player in his sophomore and junior years.
In track, Stoodley said he ran distances from the 440 and 880 meters, all the way up to 1- and 2-mile events. He was a three-year letterman and captain and co-captain for cross country and winter and spring track from 1968 through 1970.
In his senior year, he ran cross country, winter track, and spring track, and he joined the ski team, lettering in all four sports as well as being captain and co-captain.
After high school, Stoodley remained active in sports. For a decade, he played right field and was a catcher for the Men's Major and "A" Modified softball team, where he went on to two Amateur Softball Association national tournament appearances and won a New England Regional title.
In 1992, he turned his attention to working behind the plate as a softball umpire. He qualified as an NCAA umpire for 25 years. Highlights of his career include umpiring 10 times for NCAA Division I conference postseason championships, 12 Division I NCAA regional postseason tournaments, and two Division II NCAA regional postseason tournaments, among many others.
Stoodley says a real highlight of his career was when he was chosen to be third base umpire for the championship game of the NCAA Division I Women's Softball College World Series in 2010.
He said the one goal he didn't achieve - due to changes in the sports featured at the Summer Games - was being able to umpire at the Olympics. He did find some consolation in that he umpired games with many athletes who did eventually compete.
The Vermont Legislature adopted a House concurrent resolution in 2011 honoring Stoodley for his myriad achievements, notably the previous year's World Series umpiring opportunity.
Community spirit
Stoodley has remained very involved with the Bellows Falls Alumni Association throughout his life, attending and organizing reunions and helping build alumni floats for the town's famed Alumni Parade every June. He served as an alumni officer from 1978 through 1982 and as alumni president in 1982.
He was named to the BFUHS Terrier Hall of Fame in 2000 and was chosen to serve as alumni grand marshal for the parade in 2016.
The Stoodleys' home on Route 5 in Westminster, not far from BFUHS, is known locally as the "purple pride spirit house." Since the Stoodleys bought the house in 1983, they fill the yard with Bellows Falls booster posters for championship games, graduations, and other school events.
In addition to athletics, Stoodley is a hunting enthusiast, and he and his family are widely respected turkey hunters. In 1995, the Valley Times Journal profiled three Stoodleys - John T, his brother Mike, and Mike's son Lee - as being among the most successful and expert turkey hunters in the region.
Stoodley's interest in helping his community moved him to join the Bellows Falls Elks Lodge #1619 in 1974. He was exalted ruler for the group from 1988 to 1989. From 1993 to 1994, he was a state officer for the Vermont Elks Association and was named Elk of the Year.
He has also been a member of the Loyal Order of Moose since 1989 and part of the Sons of the American Legion since 1999. The Stoodleys say their business has contributed financially to countless school and community programs over the decades.
Paying it forward
When asked what he's most proud of in his life, Stoodley doesn't refer to any of the awards, trophies or honors he's won but mentions something far more personal. He talks about the many times he was able to help people out of difficult situations and the times he was able to do it for free when people couldn't afford to pay him.
He remembers one Christmas Eve when he responded to a house call for an elderly woman who said she wouldn't be able to pay him immediately. After getting her appliance running, Stoodley said, he told the woman to consider it a Christmas present.
"I was glad I could do it," he said of the times when he was able to help people in rough circumstances without charging them. "It gave me a good feeling. It's paying it forward."
He says it also led to some surprises, like a stranger coming up to him in a store and hugging him, thanking him for helping her elderly mother at no charge.
Health issues
Stoodley said that he has also had his share of setbacks over the years.
He seriously hurt his back at one point. Then in 2008, while umpiring a game at the University of Michigan, he was hit in the head by a foul ball.
The accident proved fortuitous.
Doctors discovered that Stoodley had a lemon-sized brain tumor. The condition was not related to getting hit by the foul ball, but if it had remained undiscovered, it would have been fatal within a few months.
"That led to 14 hours of surgery at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center," Stoodley said.
The surgery that removed the tumor left him with difficulty in swallowing and eating, but Stoodley was nonetheless able to get back into umpiring.
Then in 2015, while umpiring a softball game at the University of Massachusetts, Stoodley's arm started to tremble so badly that he was unable to hold onto his umpire indicator, a device used to keep track of balls and strikes.
"I knew something was wrong," he said, and very soon a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease proved his hunch was correct.
Stoodley said that his good physical condition has been a big help in fighting the progression of the disease, along with regular physical and speech therapy.
Parkinson's has aggravated his swallowing and eating issues, and he said that he has lost 30 to 40 pounds through this year. He finds the hot summer weather particularly difficult.
Parts galore
Stoodley's decision to retire was motivated by these health concerns, but he won't be entirely out of the picture.
He and Suzie, who does the bookkeeping for the company, will continue to offer parts for sale.
John T's Appliance Repair purchased the inventory from Perrault's Appliance after Donal Perrault's death in 2000. Consequently, "we've got a lot of old parts," Suzie Perrault said.
Stoodley said he'd like to continue working "in the field" doing repairs.
But "that's just no longer possible," he said.
An open house retirement party for Stoodley will take place Saturday, Oct. 4 from 2 to 6 p.m. at American Legion Post 37, 42 Rockingham Rd., in Bellows Falls.
This News item by Robert F. Smith was written for The Commons.