Gone to Glory on March 28, 2025! Hallelujah!
Stephanie Ann (Smithhart) Southerland was born on Friday, November 10, 1950, to Joseph Lester and Iva Celia (Diskey) Smithhart, Sr., at Marion General Hospital. She was a lifetime resident of Marion, Grant County, Indiana, and took pride in her hometown.
Stephanie graduated from Marion High School in 1969 and then graduated with an Associate’s Degree in 1971 from International Jr. Business College in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
She went to work for Essex Wire and Cable in June of 1971 and stayed there until June of 1995 for 24 years, when Essex closed its doors. In August of 1996, Stephanie went to work for Maidenberg Associates and stayed there for 22 years until their doors closed in 2018.
Stephanie had not planned on getting married and it was through the efforts of an Essex co-worker that she went on a blind date on March 24, 1979, meeting Randy Joe Southerland for the first time. Randy, as it turned out, was the love of Stephanie’s life. They married on March 8, 1980, and were blissfully blessed throughout their 32-year marriage with love, laughter, and togetherness, being best friends, as well as soul mates. The Lord moves in mysterious ways, and He led them to meet and marry. They enjoyed a togetherness that was sprinkled with many medical hitches, most of them with Randy, but which they never, ever let get them down or get in the way of them leading their lives the way they wanted. They enjoyed the outdoors and loved going on long drives taking wildlife pictures.
Stephanie’s passion, when not with her husband, was family genealogy, which she had worked on since the age of 16 and, in 1998, with a distant cousin, wrote and published a book, “The Wilhelm and Krieg Families of Huntington County, Indiana”, a history of just one branch of her family.
Stephanie was also a prolific reader, puzzle maker, Sudoku and crossword puzzle maker, a lifetime member of the NRA, and a licensed lifetime concealed weapon carrier.
Stephanie is the last of her particular line, her daddy dying in 1982, her mother in 1992, and her beloved husband, Randy, on July 24, 2012. She had nine faithful companions who gave unconditional love: Corky, Flippy, Trixie Lee, Tina Belle, Pebbles J., all Smithharts, and Lady, Tobias, Pearl, and Jynx, all Southerlands.
Stephanie has marched to her own drummer all her life, with the Lord, her husband, Randy, her parents, and her nine doggies as her companions. She led a simple, faith-based life, and she was a solitary person, but never lonely.
As there aren’t a lot of people left, there will be no funeral, only a brief graveside ceremony at 1:00 pm on Thursday, April 3, 2025, at Estates of Serenity in Marion. Pastor Mick Simpkins will be officiating.
Arrangements are entrusted to Needham-Storey-Wampner Funeral & Cremation Service, North Chapel, 1341 N. Baldwin Ave., Marion, IN.
Memories may be shared online at www.nswcares.com.
