Stephanie was born and raised in Pennsylvania and lived there until she completed college, where she was an Exercise and Sports Science major at Ursinus College. After moving to North Carolina, Maryland, and traveling throughout Western Europe, something was beckoning her to move west and soon she found herself living in Boulder, Colorado. On a previous trip to Switzerland Stephanie had fallen in love with the mountains and found that love again in Colorado. Stephanie always loved staying active, and she found a very active lifestyle in Colorado. After living in Boulder for a few years, she spent a season living in Vail where her affinity for skiing grew and her appreciation for the mountains flourished. She now resides in the Denver Metro area but escapes to the mountains as often as possible. She stays active by running, biking, swimming (she did her first triathlon at 31, the Danskin, which raises money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation), lifting weights, skiing, snowshoeing, and hiking. In addition to getting outdoors as much as possible, she enjoys spending time with friends, reading, giving and receiving massages, cooking and traveling.
Stephanie was first introduced to the ravages of cancer through her maternal grandfather. He came to live with her family when she was seven years old, so that he could receive treatment for lymphoma at nearby Hershey Medical Center. Stephanie and her grandfather became very close during the time he was living with her family and it was a devastating loss to her when he lost his battle to cancer five years later. Then at the age of fourteen, Stephanie again lost someone who had significant meaning in her life. Her mother’s best friend and their next-door neighbor (who was like a second mother to Stephanie as a child) developed breast cancer, which later spread to the brain, lungs and bones. She also lost the battle to cancer five years after being diagnosed. She was only forty-five and left behind a husband and six daughters. The effects of cancer did not stop there though. Stephanie also lost her paternal grandfather to lung and liver cancer, and has supported many close friends as they too experienced loss of family members due to this disease.
Stephanie was a full time massage therapist for seven years and within that time she volunteered at the Boulder Community Hospital on the oncology floor giving massages to those with cancer, and in her private practice treated those recovering from breast cancer and mastectomy. She now works as a media consultant for Yellow Book and is an IPC for Tahitian Noni International; and since she loves helping people she still uses her healing abilities by treating those in need with massage in her “spare” time.
Stephanie feels very blessed to be a part of this team and knows it is through foundations such as this that one day a cure WILL be found!
