WutBJU covers the deaths of Bob Jones University alumni because they seem to be overlooked by our alma mater. It’s comforting to see the variety of people that have passed through the same classroom doors and know that a full life is possible.
Memorializing Daniel Clark Stodala’s death is different. He never attended BJU, but he would have. His parents attended PCC, and they are employed at The WILDS in New England. His sister graduated in 2018, and his two brothers are current students.
BJU was his planned destination. His obituary states:
Daniel Clark Stodola was born on January 20, 2004. He went home to be with the Lord on November 6, 2020. While our hearts grieve, our hope is in the Lord who works all things together for good.
Daniel was a senior at Trinity Christian Academy in Concord, New Hampshire. He loved soccer, biology, anatomy, animals, climbing trees, and was always up for quoting Jim Gaffigan and the Grinch with his brothers. He will be remembered as intelligent, caring, and having a clever sense of humor. He loved to take care of his family, especially his mom.
Daniel will be dearly missed by his parents, Steve and Rhonae Stodola of Deering, New Hampshire; his older siblings, Kristy Stodola, Drew Stodola and David Stodola; grandparents, Kathryn Johnson of Augusta, Georgia and Doug and Ruth Stodola of Rockford, Illinois. He was preceded in death by his grandfathers, Ronald Hill and Jerry Olsen. In addition, Daniel was loved by many uncles, aunts, cousins, friends and classmates.
A Memorial Service to remember Daniel’s life and anchor our hope in God will be held on Tuesday, November 10, at 11:00 am at Trinity Baptist Church in Concord, New Hampshire. His burial will take place on Friday at The Wilds in Brevard, North Carolina.
In lieu of flowers, any memorial gifts can be given in Daniel’s memory to The Wilds of New England, 1181 Deering Center Road, Deering, New Hampshire, 03224.
He was buried up in the WILDS in Brevard, folks. That’s how devoted this family was to fundamentalism and to the piety that fundamentalism peddles.
And we all know Trinity in New Hampshire with Chuck Phelps and Tina Anderson.
But there’s one more details. Suicide was the cause of Daniel’s death. His mother posted on November 7, 2020:
Our hearts are heavy and overwhelmed to say our youngest son, Daniel went to be with the Lord last night having taken his own life unexpectedly. We sorrow not as those who have no hope because we know Daniel accepted God’s free gift of salvation and we will see him in heaven someday.
Yes, Daniel is now safe in Jesus’ arms. I agree. But something made him feel completely unsafe on earth. Something caused him distress. And the WILDS with its GRACE-sanctioned Jim Berg curriculum did not comfort him.
At all.
Read and heed, my friends. Read and heed.