Our Departed

Sally Brunner (Mitchell) 10th April 2001

"Stephanie was a very special person, someone

other people want to be like and the world will be a poorer place

without her"

Kathryn Bullock 10th April 2001

I will always remember Stephanie as such a warm and giving person with such a joie de vivre

Dave and Becky Nichols 09 April 2001

"How can someone so thoroughly 'good' be taken so young? We've

cried for you all. It seems so wrong to cry since when we think of Steph we

only see laughter and fun. Why won't we share in her fun again? Like everyone

we have to dwell on our memories; the time in Coventry, your wonderful

wedding, staying with you in London. Each time prompts a memory of Steph,

each one bringing a smile to our face: volunteering you for our electrics and

offering you pizza in the loft because you had not finished; phoning you from

downstairs in your London flat, asking you to bring her a cup of tea from

upstairs; your song to Anna Maria whilst staying with us.

Your happiness and devotion to each other is immeasurable.

We thank you both for letting us share the good times and to the same end we

share a fraction of your sadness and loss.

Steph is only ever a thought away to all of us"

Adrian and Margaret Boldy 09 April 2001

"We recall your wonderful wedding and the day you

called to see us with baby Anna shortly before you embarked on your epic jo

urney to South Africa. We are so sorry we never made it to see you in South

Africa, despite the many invites, and we were so looking forward to welcom

ing you home.

In her short life Stephanie achieved so many goals and was never disconcert
ed when any challenges came along. Despite many setbacks, she was always full of enthusiasm and her lovely sweet smile will always be there in our memories - she was so special to so many people.

You had only a few short years together Peter but those years were filled with such love and happiness. You will have so many lovely memories to share with the children as they grow and flourish and they will never ever forget what a wonderful and very special Mummy they had."

Kate Salkilld 9th April 2001

"Stephanie was always so full of life, so lively and such a happy person to be around.

We had great fun together when we worked together at Pitman and I was really

looking forward to seeing her after your stay in South Africa."

" she was always happy. Happy in a new job, happy to get a pay rise! ( I think we both got the same rise at the same time), very happy at the prospect of marrying you Pete, and ecstatic when she was pregnant with Anna Maria"

Richard and Margaret Scott 8th April 2001

So many wonderful things have been said about Stephanie by your hosts of

friends and we would like to share a few moments with you all.

It is just a few days from the time we were with you in Nongoma last Easter,
so we have some treasured memories of sitting in your garden with Stephanie feeding baby William, Edward on the computer and Anna Maria dancing around. While we cannot go back in time we have God's gift to us of that time (and
earlier memories of some amazing meals!) to take with us into the future.

Phil and Pam Hopkins 8 April 2001

"It is with great sadness and sorrow that we empathise with you in the knowledge that we will never again experience Stephanie's "Stephanieness" this side of eternity. You were truly blessed to have such a wife, howbe it for a brief time"

Alison Myers 8th April 2001

"My memories of Stephanie will be of someone bubbling over with life and energy, wherever she went she turned heads with a presence that demanded attention. She impressed me greatly with her intelligence and wit and, particularly at school, her ready supply of witty retorts against anyone who was foolish enough to take her or her friends on. She was thoughtful and sensitive too and I am glad to have known her as a friend. I believe she has put more in to, and got more out of, her short life than many people manage in twice the time.

I hope these words of Bishop Brent will be a comfort to you as they have been to me in the past:

'And life is eternal and love is immortal, and death is only an horizon, and an horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.'"

Victoria Mier 8th April 2001

"In response to the suggestion on the website, that you would like to make a more permanent record of people's memories and stories about Stephanie, I thought I would send you the poem that Stephanie wrote in a card for me when we left Florence - it's dated June 1985, and the card is a reproduction of an old wall painting of St Francis, from the church at Assisi - I always associate St Francis with Stephanie.

The poem that she wrote inside the card is a bit of T.S.Eliot's 'Four Quartets' -ever since she gave me the card (and read to me the lines in that earnest, passionate way she had) I have associated this poem with Stephanie.
The lines, which seem to have such poignant resonance now, are as follows:
"We shall not cease from exploration,
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And *know* the place for the first time."

She saw these lines as deeply Christian. I honestly look back on the 5 months we spent together in Florence as the happiest of my life - I remember meeting her at a Bible study, and while I was shy and reserved with all these strangers, I was struck by how comfortable she was with people, and so friendly, extremely friendly to me. She told me she was at Warwick University, and my home town is Kenilworth, only a few miles away, so there seemed like an instant bond. One day I decided to go on spec to her house in Settignano, not realising quite what that involved - a bus journey then a long walk uphill in the hot Italian sunshine - and she was so thrilled when I arrived, apparently no one had ever done that spontaneously before - and from
then on we were firm friends. She is still the only real girlfriend - in the truly girlie sense of the word - that I have ever had - by that I mean that we did all those girlie things together, lying on her bed or on the grass, looking at the ceiling or the sky, and talking about anything and everything, from deeply spiritual things to shades of lipstick, going for long walks and picnics in the Tuscan hills, eating ice cream by the Arno, always
laughing, yet always capable of being serious - she was a truly genuine, guileless person, who simply shared who she was, and made others (me, anyway) feel good about life - I think that's partly why St Francis seemed such an appropriate person to associate with her, she could be quiet and she could be exuberant, and in both was true to herself. Each day with her was an adventure. With her death, a light has gone out in the world.

I also remember how unaffectedly kind and generous she was when I was low and needing a job, and she invited me to come and stay with her in Herne Hill so that I could look for a job in London, which I did, another turning point in my life."

Simon Lloyd 7th April 2001

"I have just read through the messages on the web site, we know of our own

sadness at losing a friend but reading through you begin to appreciate how

many people have been touched by her love and abiding sense of fun. It

reminds me of a saying that life is for real, do not treat it as if you are

practising to get it right next time around. Stephanie got it right big time

and will remain a lesson for us all. She will be deeply missed."

Paul Fountain 7th April 2001

We pray that this service will be both a real

testimony to the life and witness of Steph - her joy, her spontaneity, her

care, her commitment - as well as to the love of Jesus her Lord.

Stephanie has left a huge hole - and it hurts. Yet somehow even that hurt
and that hole are a testimony to just how special she was. If she hadn't
been anyone specially none of us would be missing her - it is precisely
because of just how special she was that we and you are missing her so
much. So as buzzer as it sounds, that hole, the hurt, are also a part of
the celebration of who Steph is. At the moment she has beat us to heaven -
but we will join her soon.

Kate and Dave Jones 6th April 2001

" It's not when you die

But how you lived"

Julie Woolf 6 April 2001

"I will always remember Stephanie as the most caring, generous, loving and wise person. She always had a kind word to offer and a helping hand, whilst being a wonderful Mum, Wife, friend and teacher. Heaven must have needed a very special angel"

Nicky Mann 6th April 2001

"You don't need me to tell you that Stephanie was an exceptional person -

intelligent, warm, practical and inspiring. We will remember her as such and

hope in time you will be able to celebrate all that was good in her life."

Susan Pritchard 8 April 2001

" I remember meeting stephanie at our aqua natal classes, she was so full of joy and anticipation at beginning her family and I feel blessed to have shared those early days with her. Our Friday afternoon gatherings were the highlight for me, sharing our concerns about babies and laughing at the situations us new mothers found ourselves in!

Although physical distance then came between us, I always treasured the letters and emails that Steph sent. Her warmth, love and humour and her adaptation to life in Nongoma were evidenced in these. Here achievements in her continuing education left me in awe, all that, 3 children and a business!

Her love for you and the children shone through everything that she wrote, when we last were together she was so obviously happy. Although her life has been so tragically short Steph truly lived every moment and that is how I will remember and treasure her."

Jill Michael and Julia Hoare 07 April 2001

"She was such a wonderful person who brought joy to us

whenever we met."

Last update: Tuesday, 11 September 2007

Published in : Memorials,

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