Lieutenant Commander, retired, Richard Walter Stodulski, Naval Aviator, age 80, died Thursday, March 14, 2019 of sudden cardiac arrest. He was born in Worcester, MA, a son of Walter and Bella (Gasek) Stodulski.
Richard graduated from Commerce High School, Worcester, in 1956. He graduated Wentworth Institute, Boston, MA. He was employed at Pratt and Whitney in East Hartford, Connecticut testing jet engines. In 1960, he joined the Naval Officer Candidate School as a Naval Aviator Candidate and received his Naval Aviator wings in Pensacola Naval Air Station in 1961. He was assigned to the USS Wasp, 1961 to 1963, Squadron VS-26. He flew as a S2F Sub Hunter during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was also a Flight Instructor at Naval Air Station Pensacola. His next duty call was to Naval Air Station, Le Moore, California from 1968 to 1969 where he trained on the A-4 Skyhawk for the war in Vietnam. After his naval career, he graduated from San Diego University receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree. He enjoyed collecting, golfing and playing with his dog, "Little Bit".
Richard is predeceased by his wife, Joanne (Broussard) Stodulski, who died in December, 2017 and his step-son Randy Broussard, who died in October 1985. He is survived by his daughter, Lynne M. Steffen and her husband, Scott, of Wellington, Florida; his son, Richard W. Stodulski, Jr., of Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania; his step-daughter, Charlene Piva and her husband Jeffrey of Carlsbad, California; step-son Brad Pertner and wife Debbi of Redmond, Oregon; grandsons; Bryant Piva and his wife Lauren and children Nixon and Hunter of San Marcos, California; Matthew Piva of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Garrett Piva of Arizona; brother, Eugene Stodulski and his wife Dorothy of North Port, Florida; nephew, Scott Stodulski and his wife Anna of Navarre, Florida and a large extended family in Massachusetts.
The funeral will be held on Monday, April 1, 2019 at 1:00 pm with a Mass at St. Elizabeth Seaton Catholic Church at 6628 Santa Isabel St., Carlsbad, CA 92009 . Burial with military honors will follow at Eternal Hills Cemetery at 1999 El Camino Real Oceanside, CA 92054.
A memorial Mass will be offered on Saturday, April 13, 2019 at 4pm in Our Lady of Czestochowa Church, 33 Ward St., Worcester, MA.