Stephanie L. Elliot No one ever fought longer, harder, or more bravely against the cancer in her body than Stevie Elliot, a true warrior woman. Until the very end, Stevie never gave up hope; in August, she took her breast, bone, brain, and liver cancer to the Law School in Missoula, where she enrolled in a mediation class to prepare for her next career. On Nov. 15, 2003, knowing that her three boys were grown and self-sufficient, Stevie finally was able to lay her burden down. Just a few short months before, some of her many devoted friends celebrated her 50th birthday with her, an enormous achievement and true celebration of the gift of Stevie in our world.
Stephanie Lewis was born in Ayer, Mass., the oldest of eight children of Jonathan and Janet Carleton Lewis. Her family featured prominently in her life, despite her geographic distance from many of them. Their visits, cards and phone calls were a source of great joy, and Stevie loved hearing about her nieces and nephews. One of the highlights of Stevie’s last few weeks was getting to meet Penelope’s baby, Jonathan Hill, the most recent addition to the Lewis family. Stevie also pored over the family history compiled by her mother, and was enormously proud of the achievements of many of her ancestors. Following in those footsteps, Stevie became a skilled skier and tennis player, and was an excellent equestrienne. She won so many silver riding trophies that her mother finally asked the show directors to give her charms for a bracelet instead of any more engraved bowls.
One of the other legacies of the Lewis family was an incredible work ethic. When the boys were little, Stevie decided to prepare herself for work in the legal profession. She enrolled in Rocky Mountain College’s nascent paralegal program, embarking on the career she perfected over the next 20-some years. Stevie worked at Moulton, Bellingham, for Rob Stephens, for Cliff Edwards, and for the Crowley Law Firm in Billings. She also worked for the Williams firm in Missoula and for several firms in Fort Myers, Fla. She was in Florida when she was diagnosed at age 42 with breast cancer.
Stevie was a woman of strong opinions and tastes. She loved cowboy boots and silver jewelry; she hated elk meat and improper adverb use. She also loved to laugh and make fun of herself as well as others. Since she was diagnosed with brain cancer, she often commented to her middle-aged friends, groping to find a word or remember a name, that “I’m the one with brain cancer.” She loved warm weather, the beach, and the palm trees in Florida; she returned to Montana time and again because her family preferred it here and because of her strong network of friends. In both Billings and Missoula, the door swung open innumerable times each day with people bringing news, food, gifts and mostly just themselves to share when Stevie finally became unable to go to work. (She was always planning her next career, though). Each person took away far more than he or she brought every time.
Stevie married Bill Elliot of Billings in 1978 in New Hampshire. Stevie’s pride and joys were the three sons she had with Bill: Porter, Lewis and Blair. She loved being their mother when they were little and lived on Clark Avenue, and she worked throughout their lives to see that they wanted for nothing. She also loved being their mother when they were grown, relishing each report about their forays into the world. She was excited about Porter’s interests in snowboarding, climbing, kayaking and other outdoor adventures. She followed Lewis’ bicycling and triathlon competitions keenly, traveling to Europe to watch him ride on her last big trip abroad. (Her memories of earlier journeys to India, Nepal, Africa, and Europe were the grist of many of her stories). She was thrilled when Blair enrolled at California State University at San Bernardino and wore her CSU hooded sweatshirt with great pride. The truest measure of Stevie’s love for her boys was her total lack of hesitation about entering the grueling stem cell cancer treatment protocol at Duke University. No matter how difficult the treatment was, Stevie felt that she could endure it in order to live long enough to see Blair grow up. Never once did Stevie regret that choice, and the sunny afternoons on the back porch and the happy young men the boys became were ample reward. The rest of us are grateful for the dividends we reaped from the almost unimaginable effort she made to stay alive in the past eight years.
She is survived by her husband, Bill; her sons, Porter, Lewis, and Blair; her parents, Janet and Jonathon Lewis; her sisters, Jennifer, Amanda, Penelope, and Samantha; her brothers, Peter, Trip, and Tony; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Now that the effort is over, Stevie’s family and friends will celebrate her life, and the fact that peace has finally arrived, at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Billings. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Stevie’s favorite charity, The Kenya Project (which provides aid for orphans in Kenya), Saint Peter & Saint Paul Episcopal, 3900 Morris Lane, Arlington, TX 76017. In keeping with Stevie’s migration between Florida and Montana, some of her ashes will be spread by her family in Florida, while the remainder will be interred at Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in Missoula.
— The Billings Gazette Sunday, November 16, 2003
1953 - 2003 (50 years)
Siblings
. Porter W. ELLIOT, b. 22 Nov 1978 (Age 45 years)
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