Stephanie was born and raised in Renton, Washington. She attended Lindbergh HS, where she met her future husband Mike, and graduated in 1979. She continued her education and athletic career, playing tennis for Bellevue Community College. She and Mike would marry in summer of 1981 followed by a move to Flagstaff, AZ until they returned to Yuma in 1984.

In Yuma, Stephanie worked as a legal secretary until 1996. During her time she won awards from PLS, Professional Legal Secretary association. She had also returned to her education, earning her associates degree from Arizona Western before the family moved to Mesa in fall of 1996.

After graduating with her Bachelors of Arts in Education degree from Arizona State University in May 1998, she spent her years as an educator at the junior high and high school levels. Prior to her retirement from teaching in 2017, she spent several years coaching tennis, badminton, and leading years of students through DECA competitions. During her tenure, she won awards for both junior high and high school Business Teacher of the Year. She was also named Region Coach of the Year for Badminton after leading her girls through an incredible season.

Away from the classroom, Stephanie loved to spend her summer days poolside-soaking up the warmth of the sun. Though Stephanie was born and raised in Washington State, she was always an Arizona girl at heart. She loved to attend and support her children in all their sports, games, and activities throughout their childhoods and could always be found court-side, field-side, or pool-side any time they were playing or competing. She spent many years actively involved in the Miss Arizona pageants, before retirement. After her and Mike's retirements and relocation back to Yuma in 2019, she would often enjoy rounds of golf with the ladies at YGCC.  She was synonymous with the color pink and loved to greet everyone with a fun, and loud, "tootles!". We will remember her love for her family and her dogs, and 'grand dogs'