Stephonie Theresa Kirby- Guthrie

Stephonie Theresa Kirby-Guthrie, beloved wife, sister, daughter, mother, aunt, grandmother of 13 (soon to be 14) and friend to many passed away on August 09, 2024, surrounded by her husband and children.

Stephonie is survived by her husband Mark Guthrie, daughter and son in law, Laurelyn Arriaga Dearman (John Dearman), their children Kaila and Brenden Arriaga and Wayland, Cole and Luke Dearman, son and daughter in law Jonathan Parker Jack (Koreena), their children Jaxson, Emileena and Elexia Jack, step-daughter and son in law Evan Guthrie Jones (J. Brandon Jones), their children Gentry, MacLean and James Jones), step-daughter and son in law Layne Guthrie Stone (Cody Stone) and their children Charlotte and Carter Stone and step-daughter Spencer Guthrie. Stephonie is also survived by a large extended family in the Charleston, South Carolina area, including her mother Avise Kirby Forrester, step-father Curt Forrester, brother Walter Kirby, his children Jennifer Kirby Moore, Jessica Kirby Palevich, Nicole Kirby Jurado, Elizabeth Kirby Ray, Brandi Kirby Kasprzyk, Robert Kirby, and Cheyenne Kirby, sister Lisa Baer and her husband Vernon Baer, their children Richard and Charles Baer, and many uncles, aunts and cousins, special friend Dallas Crawford Campbell and many other friends. She was predeceased by her father Richard Kirby and her two beloved black labrador companions Lucy and Billy.

Stephonie was born to Richard and Avise Kirby in Charleston, South Carolina on July 16, 1960. Her youth was an adventure, as her father was a career Air Force soldier and his service, including in Vietnam caused her family to move frequently while Stephonie and her siblings were growing up. Stephonie spent her first years in Goose Creek, South Carolina, moved to the Azore Islands for two years and then returned to the United States, followed by moves and attending schools in Belleville, Illinois, Goose Creek, South Carolina, San Antonio, Texas, Oxnard, California, two stints in Wichita Falls, Texas and finally, Minot, North Dakota where she graduated from Minot High School in 1978. While in high school, Stephonie, a talented singer and actress, was active in theatre and had the lead or co-lead roles in several plays. In 1979, she was named Miss Minot and was runner up Miss North Dakota.

Following her pageant career, she moved back to North Texas to attend the University of Texas at Arlington. Her college experience was cut short by an early marriage and the arrivals of her daughter Laurelyn and son Parker, whom she cherished. After her first marriage ended, she raised Laurelyn and Parker as a single parent, worked full-time in Human Resources Administration for Hughes Training Inc., formerly Rediffusion Simulation Inc. and put herself the rest of the way through college at the North Texas State University, now known University as North Texas, graduating in 1993 with a BBA with concentrations in Personnel Management and Organizational Behavior. She later earned a certificate from Cornell University in Labor Relations Studies-Collective Bargaining.

After graduating from UNT, she continued her HR career with Inland Container as its Human Resources Manager, where she also managed safety and DOT compliance for a large plant that in 1994 received the “Turnaround Plant of the Year award, and led a corporate change management effort resulting in the overwhelming support of union and management. In 1994, she married Joe Rutherford and Joe, Stephonie, Parker and Laurelyn then moved to the Houston area, settling in Cypress. Stephonie then took an HR position in Houston with Champion Paper, whose 2 Texas paper mills were then acquired by Donahue Paper and later Donahue merged with Abitibi-Consolidated. As the Director, Human Resources and Communications of Abitibi, over the next 4 years, Stephonie directed all aspects of start-up human resource services for its international corporate office based in Toronto and its 25 sales, transportation and manufacturing locations. She also served as a member of Abitibi’s executive leadership team, acted as principal strategist, media contact and leader of advertising, promotion and internal/external communication plans and was involved in acquisitions, mergers and divestitures, strategic planning, and budgeting, resulting in building the company from a $.5 million, 40 employee organization to the world's largest recycler of newspapers and magazines with annual sales of over $150 million. Despite her work responsibilities, she remained very involved in Parker and Laurelyn's activities and was immensely proud of their achievements and accomplishments. Friday nights in the fall usually had her at a football stadium, cheering Parker on as he played on the varsity offensive line, and cheering Laurelyn on as the lieutenant colonel of the drill team, with evenings and weekends full of practices and other activities. While Joe and Stephonie's marriage ended in 2003, Joe and later Joe’s wife Kathy remained dear friends until her passing.

In 2004, together with her friend Dallas Crawford Campbell, Stephonie founded and operated for approximately 5 years a successful wedding and event planning business known as Enchanted Crossing. From 2006 to her retirement in 2012, she also held several Sr. Account Manager, Business Development and Assistant Vice President positions with Fidelity National Financial companies and its affiliated title and title insurance companies.

Stephonie met Mark in late 2004. They were a couple and life partners for 19 years, married for the last 12. Theirs was a great love affair, full of adventure and fun, with one balancing the other through the challenges of life. Stephonie enthusiastically welcomed Mark’s friends, who became hers as well and supported both Mark’s professional activities and extensive civic activities centered around workforce development, which she liked to refer to as “Mark’s avocation.”

Stephonie loved to travel domestically and internationally. She and Mark traveled extensively, visiting many different states and Mexico, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, the United Kingdom, France, The Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Estonia, and Denmark, and Sweden. Before she met Mark, Stephonie traveled to Canada frequently on business and enjoyed a 3-week solo retreat in Paris, where she immersed herself in the art and history of France. Stephonie also loved art, history, photography, exploring the Texas countryside on the back of Mark’s Harley, snow skiing, the beach, Cape Cod, Napa Valley, the California coast and the fall colors in the Northeast United States. She also loved to sing (and could really belt out a song on karaoke) watch college and pro football, plan trips and events, crafts (she handmade Christmas stockings for Mark, the children and grandchildren), music, especially live music, the holidays and the black labrador companions she and Mark shared. But above all else, she loved her family, particularly her grandchildren, who called her “Mimi.” Her eyes lit up and spirits lifted when she saw or held a grandchild. She loved caring for them, making them games to play, playing with and reading to them, crafting with them, baking and decorating cookies with them, attending their sporting events, school events and birthday parties, telling them stories and teaching them about life. She treasured the time she spent with them and the trips she took with some of them to Disney World and Destin. And she was absolutely thrilled to attend her daughter Laurelyn’s wedding to John Dearman a few months ago and that she gained 3 new grandsons in the process.

A memorial service and celebration of Stephonie’s life will be held at 10:00 am on September 3, 2024 at the Memorial Oaks Funeral Home, 13001 Katy Freeway, Houston, TX with a reception to follow. Thereafter, her South Carolina family and friends will gather for a memorial service and celebration of Stephonie’s life at 11:00 am on September 6, 2024 at the First Baptist Church of Goose Creek located at 141 St. James Ave., Goose Creek, SC.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that you consider donating in her honor to the American Liver Foundation, Combined Arms Houston, a veteran’s support organization, The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) Foundation, which carries on the mission of Mark’s uncle in spinal cord injury research or the charity of your choice.