Stephanie Elizabeth LeBoutillier

1945 - 2023

Stephanie Elizabeth LeBoutillier

April 6, 1945 - January 1, 2023

On January 1, 2023, she got her wish.

Stephanie Elizabeth Girard LeBoutillier, beloved wife of George F. LeBoutillier of Lopez Island, Washington, and devoted mother of Jean Baptiste F. LeBoutillier, Gretchen LeB. Good, Stephen G. LeBoutillier, and Megan T. LeBoutillier, passed away peacefully on Sunday, January 1, 2023.

Stepper was born on April 6, 1945, to Laurina Margaret Banks and Stephen A. Girard, Jr. in Vancouver, Washington. She and her siblings, Julie Miller, Caron Avery, and Stephen A. Girard III grew up traveling extensively during her dad's 46-year career with Kaiser Industries. The itinerary included Grand Coulee Dam and Vancouver, Washington; The Netherlands; Ann Arbor, MI; Toledo, OH; Orinda, and Napa, California.

She attended Maumee Valley Country Day School in Toledo where she met her future husband. George recalls, "The first time I saw her was at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Maumee. I was in sixth grade, and I was smitten." After graduating from Maumee Valley in 1963, Stepper continued her travels to Skidmore College, Ohio University, and then St. Lawrence University. She left college to chase George and on August 20, 1966, George and Stepper were married at the very same church where she had first caught his eye. After a four-year Navy stint in Long Beach/Tustin, CA, they returned to raise their children in Ohio. Stepper had a life-long zest for learning and would later complete her studies and earn her bachelor's degree in Communication and Educational Psychology from the University of Toledo in 1994 as a 49-year-old mother of four.

Stepper was energy and light. She stayed fit through biking, yoga, tennis, paddle tennis, rowing, and running. Her creative spirit and continual quest for self-improvement led her to explore many interests. Her twinkling, creative eye captured photographic gems, and her busy, skilled hands dabbled in ceramics, drawing, painting, and sculpture. Ever the penultimate hostess, she was known for entertaining in her home and crafting divine meals for family and friends. A Master Gardener, she was always showering love on her gardens in Perrysburg, Hopetown, and Lopez Island, often with George at her side.

Stepper was energetic and eager to help improve the lives of others. In addition to being a doting mother, she devoted time and energy to various causes close to her heart. She served as Doctor's Assistant and Director at Planned Parenthood, held the roles of Secretary, Chairman of the Trunk Show, and Chairman of the Flower Show at the Country Garden Club of Perrysburg, was a member of the Junior League of Toledo, and volunteered at Maumee Valley Country Day School as a Trustee, Parents Club President, Alumni Class Agent, and Alumni President. She was also a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children at Wood County Human Services and served as a counselor and Director at Pemberville Boys Ranch. In the Bahamas, she volunteered at Every Child Counts, a school for children with special needs, taking the students on working outings to farms and gardens, again sharing her knowledge and skills and getting her hands in the dirt, which she loved.

Her faith and service to God nourished the life she led full of honesty, integrity, and love. She served on the Altar Guild and Vestry of St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Perrysburg, the Altar Guild at Grace Episcopal Church on Lopez Island, and her voice could always be heard in the St. James Methodist Church choir in Hopetown, Bahamas, see where her floral arrangements lit up the altar. Link to the choir, Stepper is in the back row far right: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXUHtSgENJw.

Throughout her life, Stepper dreamed of one day returning to her roots in Washington, often joking with George, "I want to go West. I don't want to die in Ohio... it's too flat." In 2001, Stepper and George chartered a boat to explore Puget Sound, where she had summered and learned to water ski in the 56-degree water. George was smitten for a second time, and Stepper's wish to spend her final years in Washington came true. Together, they fell in love with the beauty of their new island home, and the friendly, caring community it nourishes.

Energetic, effervescent, loved, and loving, Stepper lived a full life. She saw the good in people, shared their enthusiasm, and brought them joy.

Stepper is survived by her husband, George F. LeBoutillier; and her four children, Jean-Baptiste F. LeBoutillier (Nicole), Gretchen LeBoutillier Good (Matthew), Stephen G. LeBoutillier (Jennifer), and Megan T. LeBoutillier, who will always remember her unconditional love, long hugs, endless support, and quick wit. She loved being Grammy, Grommer, Pepper, and Nana to her seven grandchildren, Harrison LeBoutillier, Graham Learing, Grandin LeBoutillier, Walter LeBoutillier, Austin LeBoutillier, Elsie Learing, and George Good. All gave her great joy and returned her love manyfold.

Stepper loved the nurses and care she received at Lighthouse Memory Care in Anacortes, Washington, where she danced, soaked up the sun, spread her joy, joked, and whistled at her caregivers.

In time, a memorial and celebration of Stepper's life will take place. The family will notify loved ones when a service is scheduled.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to a charity of donor's choice, or Every Child Counts, www.everychildcountsabaco.org, or St. James Methodist Church, through www.percabaco.org.

To share memories of Stepper, please visit: www.evanschapel.com/obituary/stepper-leboutillier