Stephanie Michelle Power Saenz

Stephanie Michelle Power Saenz, 48, lept from the mat, flipped, and spun in the air and exquisitely decided to keep flying. She out-performed cancer with the same passion and indomitable spirit that embodied her entire life. Leaving us with shared memories and undying love, Stephanie finally found the sky on August 30, 2022

Every person has a significant dream of their own heaven, and Stephanie lived a great part of life with her sons, Caleb Montiforte and Brody Saenz who carry on the eternal love of their mother. Her parents, Madeline Power and Jack (Robbie) Power live on to carry endless memories of strength, beauty, and pride in their daughter who rose to so many triumphs and breathtaking leaps across obstacles. Her sister, Stacie (Denny) Walter is never going to stop talking about her and will be the first in line to extoll or defend the blessed legacy of her best friend. Stephanie had an unkeen ability to befriend everyone around her. No person that was lucky to be in her presence remained a stranger, she was a friend to all who knew and loved her. Stacie, her beloved sister and best friend, shared a connection from both battling cancer at different times. She will always remember Stephanie as being her pillar through her own personal battle, and considers her not only her best friend, but one of the greatest triumphs and love of her life.

If you did not know - and remembering her incredible gift for never meeting a stranger and expressing; let's call it loud and exciting because she had the personality of a comet ridden by an opera singer who just won the lottery - Stephanie was born in Germany and by the time she could walk, had decided to chase the sky. Not in an airplane; that would have been too easy. She wanted to jump, flip, and find the clouds. She trained relentlessly through her youth and found whirling and twisting and creating one's own force of gravity could bring her closer.

With the right ears, anyone could hear her entire life in the sound of her unique voice. Whether belting tunes from the radio with her cousin Natalie or whispering love in few meaningful words, Stephanie's dusky torch-singer voice is a poem of living boundlessly. There are always problems and issues and opportunities and whatever people choose to call them but they are the salt that seasons any life. The sweetness is found between the words, where her gorgeous brown eyes and fascinating smile betrayed all the bitter ingredients of her life's recipe. Honest to a fault, she provided all that knew her with a token of truth and realization based off love and consideration.

John Wentworth was with her and used all of his strength to help hoist her to ever skyward. The last great love of her life, John walked the line for Stephanie and led her across horizons she never thought reachable. She helped lift him up in his darkest hours of personal toil, and allowed him to realize that the power of love was great enough to achieve the utmost of personal potential.  A family of eternal love and caring support surrounded her as nieces, Laura Cabana and Maddie Walter, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends all did what families do. Bubba and Diane Pickard, Natalie Moniz, Lee Pickard, Aunt Jill Hailey, Uncle Robert and Aunt Sara Smith, Great Aunt Bonnie Zirlott - all of them hoisting her up. Always up.

Celebrate her when you have a chance. You really should. She's a few ahead of you by now with Michelle and Marsha. Everyone from Christus Victor, the Rotary and the Elks and every other person she shared a dance or a laugh with will be doing the same. Mix a cocktail of laughter and song and drink it to an ovation for our Stephanie.

The family would like to thank Dr. Jones, Mary Lucy, Mitchell Cancer Center, Hospice of Light, and Johnson Controls work family, especially Hanna.

If anyone would like to make a contribution to Stephanie's boys, She has an account set up in her name for her boys at Keesler Federal Credit Union.

A memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 3, 2022 at Christus Victor Lutheran Church. Friends may visit one hour prior. Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home, Ocean Springs is honored to serve the family of Mrs. Stephanie Saenz.