Local Marine Corps veteran gets backyard overhaul
Travis Stocker’s new backyard includes a memorial to his comrades killed in combat while deployed in Iraq.
PORT WASHINGTON (WJER) (Sept. 3, 2024) – A Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s captain is getting to relax in style after being chosen for an all-expenses-paid backyard makeover from the organization Patios for Patriots.
Travis Stocker and his family live on Winding Staircase Drive. They were home while most of the work was occurring but left for a couple of days while crews completed the finishing touches. Stocker was saying he felt unworthy after returning Sunday afternoon for the big reveal.
“There are so many out there more deserving than I am. I’m just a regular veteran, but I appreciate everybody that had a hand in this.”
Patios for Patriots Founder Jason Geiser couldn’t have disagreed more with the Marine Corps combat veteran who deployed to Iraq in 2005 as part of the 3rd battalion, 25th Marine Corps Regimen.
“A lot of veterans say that. They say, ‘Well, I don’t think I’m deserving.’ I push back on that all the time because of the sacrifice. If we can do this for one person, that’s a win for us and the community.”
Curt Baumann of Dover runs a separate non-profit called Veterans Outdoor Adventures. He nominated Stocker, whom he met during a pheasant hunt a few years ago, and assembled a team to assist with the project.
“Ever since then we just kind of hit it off, and I about the house he was building here, and the way the economy is and everything else and his work schedule, he’s never going to have time to get a deck.”
The Stockers’ new backyard includes a memorial to his 48 fallen comrades and came fully furnished with tables and chairs, a Pitboss grill, a built-in firepit, and a ‘green egg’ smoker. Riedl Construction owner Justin Riedl oversaw the project and thanked everyone who contributed.
“This whole community came together. We didn’t just get help from a couple of people. We got help from Lowes. We got help from Stocker’s [Concrete]; local excavators: Lanzer, RLA. Mason Steel donated all the wall. We got some really good help. Wolf Landscaping was another one that was a big help.”
Sunday’s reveal was live-streamed on the Patios for Patriots Facebook page.