Roderick STACKELBERG

1935 - 2018

STACKELBERG, Roderick

Roderick Stackelberg died March 18, 2018, aged 82. He was born in Munich, Germany, on May 8, 1935 to a German father, Curt Ernst Friedrich Ferdinand Freiherr von Stackelberg (1910-1994) and an American mother, Ellen LeRoy Emmet Biddle (1912-1998). He grew up as a child in Bavaria during the Second World War. His tenth birthday coincided with VE Day, May 8, 1945. He returned to the United States with his mother and his three siblings in July 1946. He attended St. Paul's School, Concord, NH, and Housatonic Valley Regional High School, Falls Village, CT, before earning an AB degree with a concentration in History and Literature, cum laude , from Harvard in 1956. He was drafted into the army in 1958, serving in the Chemical Corps at USAREUR HQ in Heidelberg, Germany. His duty was to map the potential fallout from battlefield nuclear weapons at a time when the US Government claimed not to have any nuclear weapons stationed in Europe. After teaching at the high school and adult education levels for many years, including in Germany from 1962 to 1967, he returned to graduate school at age 35 in 1970, helped by a Ford Foundation Leadership Development fellowship. He earned an MA in history at the University of Vermont in 1972, and a PhD in history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1974, specializing in modern German and European intellectual history, with a focus on Nazism and fascism. He taught at San Diego State University, University of Oregon, and University of South Dakota. Arriving at Gonzaga University as an Assistant Professor in 1978, he retired as Professor and John D. and Ann K. Powers Chair in 2004. He was named Scholar of the Year by Gonzaga in 1990. Stackelberg published four scholarly books: Idealism Debased: From Völkish Thought to National Socialism (Kent State University Press, 1981), Hitler's Germany: Origins, Interpretations, Legacy (Routledge, 1999; revised 2009), The Nazi Germany Sourcebook: An Anthology of Texts with Sally A. Winkle (Routledge, 2002), and The Routledge Companion to Nazi Germany (2008). He contributed chapters to scholarly anthologies and published numerous articles and reviews in major academic journals. He also privately published four volumes of memoirs. He was a member and financial supporter of various social justice and environmental organizations and served as President of the Spokane chapter of the United Nations Association. His favorite expression comes from Paul Goodman: "The repressed and excluded are always right in their rebellion, because they stand for our future wholeness."

A former Spokane chess champion and competitive club tennis player, Rod was a member of the Inland Empire Chess Club and the Spokane Tennis Association. Rodi enjoyed good food and wine, relished most when the talk between bites turned political. He was a loving husband and a caring father, a loyal friend and a dedicated correspondent. He did not travel widely, but he traveled well-usually to Boston, to Vermont, or to Germany, and always to visit family and friends. In bad weather he'd listen to classical music or protest songs while reading by the fire. When the sun came out, he'd take long walks through the neighborhood, stopping to admire a fine house or beautiful garden. After a stroke in 2011, his walks continued, longer and further than ever before. If you lived on the South Hill, you'd be liable to see him zoom by in his wheelchair, seeking some sunshine and a view from the bluff. He is survived by his wife, Sally Anne Winkle, (married 1991), and his first wife Steffi Heuss, (married 1965-1983), and by a daughter and two sons: Katherine Ellen von Stackelberg (b. 1966), Nicholas Olaf von Stackelberg (b. 1971) and Emmet Winkle von Stackelberg (b. 1991), and three grandchildren: Sigurgeir Temple, Bryndis LeRoy Jonson and Sebastian Otto von Stackelberg, as well as by his brother Olaf Patrick (b. 1932), and his half-sisters Stella Marie (b. 1943), Susanne (b. 1942) and Sylvia Roswitha Knobloch (b. 1945). He was predeceased by his sister Betsy Shulman (1934-2015), his brother Nicholas Temple (1938-2016), and his half-brother Curt Ferdinand Marian Freiherr (1956-1997). A memorial celebration will be held on May 19th at 2pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church. Donations may be made to the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, Hospice of Spokane, or the Nature Conservancy.