Marie Cora Stoddard

Marie Cora Stoddard gained angel wings surrounded by family, friends and caretakers while enveloped in immense love, song and peace on October 30, 2025 in Ann Arbor, MI where she was fighting a battle with both HLH and aplastic anemia.

Marie touched the lives of so many (people and animals) with her gentle, kind and sensitive spirit. Her twelve years were filled with deep connection, creativity, and passion. She loved to explore nature, seeking both adventure and quiet reflection. She was home- and nature-schooled which allowed her to develop her gifts in ways that she loved. Never did a day go by when she was bored. She filled her time with creativity; watercolor painting, pen and ink drawing and throwing pottery were her most recent favorites. Marie was always eager for a challenge and loved a little competition. She found both in her love of horseback riding, time spent at the gym, as well as being open to trying new things like finding her way up the side of a rock wall, down a challenging ski hill or snorkeling the Caribbean. Marie found love and support in the friendships she cherished and nurtured through the years. She was often found wandering Rockford with her best friends by her side.

Sweet Marie was the light of our family, having a way of bringing us all together for both the ordinary and the extraordinary. She is and always will be loved and deeply missed by her parents, Aaron and Kristin and her siblings Joey and Leah as well as grandparents, Tom, Linda, Vicky and Donna along with many aunts, uncles, cousins and a whole community of friends that grew to become family and surrounded her here in Michigan. We know she is now welcomed by the love of family that has gone before, especially her Grandpa Steve.

Marie’s light never dimmed even in the most challenging of times over the past seven months. Each day she was filled with remarkable courage and strength in ways we never knew possible. Her courage and strength ignited courage and strength in our family as we walked through the unimaginable - growing closer and filling us with deep hope for something better each day. We have to believe that something better is where she is now. She is free and at peace and while our days walking this world will never be the same, her courage, strength, and sweet, gentle spirit is deeply embedded within us and lives on in each of us, every day.

There will be a celebration of life in Marie’s honor held at The Rutledge in Grand Rapids on November 23. We invite you to gather with us at 1:15, with a ceremony beginning at 1:30. Following that, there will be time for dessert, warm drinks and time spent together, sharing stories, songs and creativity in memory of Marie.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Dwight Lydell Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America in Belmont, MI, a conservation organization where Marie attended forest school, or to The Barn for Equine Learning in Lowell, MI, where she nurtured her love for horses.