Stephanie Ann Chestnut

1960 - 2025

Stephanie Ann Chestnut

August 22, 1960 - January 25, 2025

San Luis Obispo, California - Stephanie Ann Chestnut, 64, went to be with the Lord on January 25, 2025. She spent a week on hospice, living life to the fullest, dancing, being with family she loved, leaving beautiful and precious memories behind.

Born on August 22, 1960, in Washington, Indiana, Steph was the 4th of 7 children of Frances Stuart and Janet Chestnut. The Chestnuts moved to CA in 1963 when Stuart got the opportunity to teach and coach at Cal Poly, SLO. Proficient in ASL, she spent her teen summers at Camp Hapitok as a counselor for hearing impaired youth. She excelled in school at SLO High and Pacific Beach High where she received academic honors and scholarships allowing her to attend Cuesta College and Cal Poly, SLO, where she pursued a degree in Speech. It was then, a few credits short of her degree, that she became ill and her life changed forever.

Permanently in a wheelchair and faced with daunting medical challenges, Steph never let her disability hold her back. Her determination to truly LIVE was both contagious and admirable. You could find her floating on an innertube at the lake, on a dance floor, singing along at concerts, and playing with her many nieces and nephews, to whom she was lovingly known as Aunt Nini. She was an avid reader, always in a series, and she always had music on in the background. She played the guitar and her singing voice was beautiful.

Steph's ultimate passions in life were her loved ones. She met her husband, Stanley Borrill, on a dance floor in Pismo Beach in 1990 and they were happily married until he passed in 2014. Through marriage, Steph gained a daughter, and was overjoyed to become Ouma to two beautiful grandchildren. She was made to be a grandma and gave her grandbabies the love and blessings only a grandma can give.

Steph was greeted in heaven by her parents and husband, sister, Natalie Chestnut, niece, Kyle Leatherbury, and brother-in-law, Harald Mann. She is survived by siblings, Lynn Chestnut, Melanie Leatherbury, Vanita Mann, Andy Chestnut (Diana), and Kehrt Chestnut (Glaudia); stepdaughter Nathalie Ratliff (Wayne), Grandchildren, Geva and Ethan Ratliff, 10 nephews, 7 nieces, 4 great-nephews, and 6 great-nieces.

She will be terribly missed by all who knew her, until we meet again. A Celebration of Life will be held at a future date.