William Stamm

Stamm, William F. William F. Stamm, age 99, a lifelong resident of Albuquerque, passed away in the early hours of Thursday, April 24,2014 with his devoted wife of 48 1/2 years, Ruth at his side. He was born at home to Elizabeth Baldridge Stamm annd RoyA Stamm on June 18, 1914. He attended Old Forth Grade School, Washington Junior High School and Albuquerque High School at Broadway and Central. But graduated from the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell in 1932 and attended UNM in 1933 and 1934. He worked at Baldridge Lumber Company in 1935 (This company was started in 1882 by his grandfather, J.C. Baldridge). From 1936 to 1941, Bill and his father had a sporting goods store and outdoor recreational area. (Tennis, shuffle board, bikes for hire, camping trips) When WWII started he went to work at a Munitions Plant in Denver, until he was sent to Honolulu in 1943 to 1947 with the Army Engineers and on to Post War Japan for 4 years to the 5th Air Force Base, then back to Albuquerque to Kirtland Airforce Base Engineers until he joined Sandia Labs from 1952 to 1974, when he took early retirement. Bill's father, Roy who wrote "For Me, The Sun", was quite an outdoors person and exposed Bill and his two brothers, Allen now deceased and Bob to beautiful areas in New Mexico and Colorado on many camping trips. Little wonder that Bill started the New Mexico Mountain Club in 1952 and it is still going strong after 62 years. Bill wrote this "The high point in my life was when I married Ruth, a girl from Chicago, September 4, 1965 who I met at the April meeting and it was truly "Love at first sight" for the both of us. We had a rustic cabin in the Jemez Mountains and enjoyed it year round with friends and as a base for snowshoe trips. Bill loved camping, hiking, backpacking and down hill skied until he was 83 in all our western states, Japan and Austria. Other high points in his life were climbing to the Summits of 12,360 Ft. Fujiyama, 14,870 Ft. Matterhorn, 17,876 Ft. Popocatepetl and 14,500 Ft. Whitney. He and Ruth were also active members of the Sierra Club, Volunteers for the Outdoors, Friends of the Petroglyphs, New Mexico Cross Country Ski Club, Sandia Ski Club, Sandia Thunderbirds Nature Conservancy and NM Wilderness Alliance. He built 28 huge dog houses for PACA, Drove vans for the Albuquerque Senior Centers for 5 years and hosted the Audubon Wildlife Film Series at Popejoy Hall form 1971 to 1979. Both Bill and Ruth were on the Board of Directors of the Rio Grande Zoological Society from 1980 to 1990. What Fun That WAS! And we did get to travel a lot; Tibet, Russia, China, New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland, Europe, Thailand, etc, etc. But the best trips of all were in our 1972 VW Camper in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Bill was preceded in death by his sons, Billy and Phillip. He is survived by his son Paul, grandson Dario, brother Robert and his wife Mary and many nephews and nieces and friends. A donation in his memory, to your favorite animal charity would make him smile. Bill will be missed! At his request Bill was cremated and his ashes will be scattered at a later date by his loving family. To view information or leave a condolence, please visit www.danielsfuneral.com Daniels Family Funeral Services 1100 Coal Ave SE Albuquerque, NM 87106 505-842-8800