Shooting Victim's Widow: Husband 'Died for Me'

"He made me a better person. He made me know there are good men," said 75-year-old Mavanell "Mavy" Stoddard yesterday at the memorial for her late husband, who took a bullet for her in the Arizona shootings. "He spoiled me rotten. And oh gosh, it was fun." Mavy, who was shot three times in the legs as her husband, Dorwan, shielded her with his body, spoke from a wheelchair before 1,000 people at Calvary Tucson East Baptist Church yesterday. "He died for me," she said, "and I have to live for him."

"There are no monuments to Dory, there are no streets named after him,” said the Stoddards' pastor. “He was just an ordinary man. He did not become a hero that day—he was a hero every day of his life.” Dory and Mavy had been married for 15 years; it was the second marriage for both, who had once been sixth-grade sweethearts, reports the Los Angeles Times. "I will survive," added Mavy as the crowd began to applaud. "We will not let that gunman take our hopes."
(More Gabrielle Giffords shooting stories.)