Stephanie Steph Ellen Valentine

STEPHANIE ELLEN VALENTINE, 31, of Concord, NC, passed away at Carolinas Medical Center-Main on September 2, 2014, as a result of complications while undergoing surgery for her adrenal-cortical cancer. She was born September 16, 1982, in Houston, TX, to Kenneth and Mary Beth Valentine. Loved and respected by all who worked with her, she was a branch manager for 9 years at Woodforest National Bank. As good as she was at building teams of employees, her real passion was for studying social sciences, in what she hoped might be a new career course. She held B.A.s in both psychology and sociology, a Masters in Industrial Organizational Psychology, and was pursuing a second Masters in Forensic Psychology. In 2008, she had a paper published, "Women Athletes' Mental Rotation Under Stereotypic Threat", co-authored by Professor Sheila Brownlow and Alvin Owusu, in the journal Perceptual and Motor Skills.

She was also an extraordinary athlete; at Providence High School (Class of 2001) in Charlotte, she was team captain and a 4-year letter winner in basketball, a 4-year letter winner in volleyball, and ran the 800 and 4x800 relay in track. At Catawba College (Class of 2005), she was again a captain of her basketball team, and her love of sports continued throughout her life (Go Duke!).

Stephanie is survived by her parents in Charlotte, her sister Jessica Valentine and brother-in-law Marc Ludvigsen of Rock Hill, SC, her boyfriend George Pardner and her best friend Crissi Harrison.

Stephanie had an exceedingly sharp wit, as many of the targets of her humor would attest, loved to laugh, and had multiple sayings and looks that were just so 'Stephanie'. She could light up a room with both her smile and her beautiful blue eyes. Children loved her too, perhaps because the curious and fun-loving child was always alive in her. She stood out from the crowd, inspired family, friends and teammates, leaving her mark on all who were lucky enough to know her.

She left us in awe of her strength of will, as she fought her cancer for four years, through surgical procedures, radiation, chemotherapy and experimental drug trials, earning the nickname "Irongirl". Loved by family and friends, Irongirl will be sorely missed, but always remembered.

"We will never be the same as we were before this loss, but we are ever so much better for having had something so great to lose."

A Memorial Service and Celebration of Life for Stephanie Valentine will be held Saturday, September 6 at 2:00pm where the family will receive friends following the service until 5:00 pm at McEwen Pineville Chapel 10500 Park Rd. Charlotte, NC 28210

In lieu of flowers, the family would be pleased if donations are made on behalf of Stephanie to Adrenal Cancer Research and Patient Care at TGen (www.adrenalcancer.org).

Condolences may be made at www.mcewenpinevillechapel.com

P.S. - "Well played, Irongirl."