Sadoff, Stuck leave $700,000 in bequests
10/06/05

Two LSUS benefactors have left bequests totaling more than $700,000 for scholarship endowments at the university.

Abe I. Sadoff, who lived in Shreveport for more than 50 years and died at the age of 95 earlier this year, left a bequest of more than $600,000 to LSUS to form the Abe I. Sadoff Memorial Endowment for Scholarships. The Goodloe R. Stuck Memorial Endowment for Scholarships was created with a bequest of $100,000 from the noted local historian who died in April at the age of 96.

A native of Sioux City, Iowa, Sadoff had an early career in the entertainment industry, owning a theater in Sioux City at the age of 21, then serving as Chief of Special Service in the U.S. Army in World War II. He moved to Shreveport in the 1950s and began a second career in the oil industry, working mainly in the Oil City area. Over his years in Shreveport, he participated in a number of LSUS-sponsored activities, including a 1976 trip to Oxford University as part of an LSUS study group. Upon their return, the study group voted him the “most congenial” member on the trip and gave him a plaque, which was prominently displayed at LSUS.

“Abe Sadoff was a very dear friend,” said well known local entrepreneur and amateur photographer Fletcher Thorne-Thompson. “He was very loyal to his friends, was always fun to be with and was a very generous. He had many facets of interest, but was not a well known person because he didn’t talk much (publicly) about his interests.”

Sadoff was known to have an unquenchable thirst to learn and to travel. Among his many worldwide destinations were Italy, France, Greece, Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, Malta, Majorca, Spain, Egypt, Mexico, Canada and myriad domestic locations. He had a passion for education and understood well the critical importance of private support for higher education.

Stuck, a longtime friend and supporter of LSUS, was passionate about education and historic preservation. He was very involved with the Pioneer Heritage Center and the archives at Noel Memorial Library, both on the campus of LSUS.

A native of Jonesboro, Ark., he moved to Shreveport after World War II, where he had served as a major in the U.S. Army. He served in Normandy, Brittany and the Battle of the Bulge, where he was taken prisoner. He became well known throughout the community for his civic activities, research of local history and advocacy of historic building preservation. A prolific writer, he contributed more than 200 articles to local newspapers and gave frequent lectures on related subjects. He wrote the column “Heritage Scrapbook” for The Times in the 1980s and published a partial compilation of these as Heritage Scrapbook of Northwest Louisiana.

His 1981 book, Shreveport Madam, recounted the history of the city’s Red Light District after the turn of the century. He also published a third book, End of the Land, and was in the process of writing an account of his World War II service when he died. His endowment is a demonstration of his strong support for LSUS and the importance of higher education.