Terry D. Yoder, DPM, of Taos, New Mexico, died at home among his family and their dog on Friday morning, June 22, 2018, after battling lymphoma cancer since November. He was 85. A funeral service will be held at Rivera Family Funeral Home, 818 Paseo del Pueblo Sur, in Taos, on Thursday, June 28, at 10:30 a.m. The Rev. Munro Sickafoose will preside. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Taos Men’s Shelter. Please make checks payable to the shelter and mail them to the Unitarian Congregation of Taos, P.O. Box 510, Taos, NM 87571-0510, where they will be collected and delivered to the shelter as the Yoder Family’s contribution in memory of Terry.
Terry Yoder was born in Snyder, Texas, in 1933. He was preceded in death by his parents, Hal and Marty (Dozier) Yoder, and his brother, Tommy Yoder. He is survived by his loving wife, Stephanie (Fox) Yoder, whom he married on Nov. 24, 1969; his daughter Robin Yoder (spouse, Pam Kear), and his two grandsons, Benjamin Yoder-Kear (18) and Mykel Yoder-Kear (15); his brother-in-law, Hampton Fox; his sister-in-law, Dena Fox; nephew, Hampton (Hampy) Fox; sister-in-law Bama Crouse; nieces, Vonnie Estes and Jana Gregerson; and nephew, Tommy Boy Yoder.
Terry grew up in southern New Mexico on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, where his father was the agricultural agent. He lived there from age 4 to 16, when the family moved to Roswell in time for Terry to attend high school. He later graduated from New Mexico A&M University (now NM State University) in Las Cruces, where he received his bachelor’s degree in agricultural education and was also a member of the ROTC. He served in the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant in the Chemical Corps, in Utah.
Following his two-year service in the Army, Terry attended the Illinois College of Podiatric Medicine in Chicago. He graduated cum laude with his Doctor of Podiatric Medicine in 1961 and was accepted into Leonard Levy’s prestigious surgical residency program in Detroit, Michigan. With his education and residency completed, he moved to Odessa, Texas, and opened his own private practice, which was focused on surgical and palliative care.
Terry, Stephanie, and their daughter, Robin, lived in Odessa until Terry retired in 1992, after 32 years, and the couple moved to Taos, New Mexico. They later joined the Unitarian Congregation of Taos, back when the members were meeting in a yurt.
In the 1980s and ’90s, Terry and Stephanie took 22 bicycle tours and enjoyed wonderful adventures together in the United States, Canada and, mostly, Europe, enjoying the sights from the seats of their bikes. For years after, they continued to travel to many lands, sharing a love of visiting foreign countries. Terry especially enjoyed walking through strange cities, exploring galleries and markets.
Arrangements by Rivera Family Funeral Home. To share a memory, please visit our website at
www.riverafuneralhome.com