Naperville woman was a promising skater, writer

Stephanie Terese Joseph dreamed of becoming a champion figure skater, one who combined the technical elements of Michelle Kwan, the grace of Kristi Yamaguchi and the jumping ability of Midori Ito.

Through last year the 21-year old Naperville native was working on her senior level rating, mastering such difficult jumps as the triple salchow, the triple flip, the triple toe loop and the triple Lutz.

But while she beat cancer once, this time the disease caught up to her. Ms. Joseph died on Tuesday after a valiant fight, her parents said. In May, she would have graduated from the University of Missouri's journalism school.

"She really wanted to finish," her father, Joe, said. "She made it until Thanksgiving, but by then the disease had spread. She was a real profile in courage."

Ms. Joseph began skating at All Seasons Ice Rink in Naperville at the age of 5. What started in tot sessions progressed to private lessons, before becoming daily training by the time she was in high school, both before and after school.

"She was a beautiful skater, it was like watching an angel," said Steven Morrissey, All Seasons Ice Rink manager, where Ms. Joseph later taught young skaters.

Her ability to master the many triple jumps amazed those in the figure skating world.

Cancer was with her, though, from the age of 8 when she discovered a lump on her leg. Ms. Joseph was diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, and underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatment. Despite suffering some burns from the treatment and dealing with her leg swelling, she resumed skating.

"The fact that she could still do these triple jumps had her coaches amazed," her father said. "But as she went on, it became too painful."

As Ms. Joseph was dealing with her disease she learned to express herself in writing. As an 8-year-old, she won an award at the Young Authors Conference for an original short story.

"She had a natural ability for writing. We were so amazed at how beautifully she wrote, without any help," said her father, who with her mother, are natives of India.

Ms. Joseph did not work on the newspaper at Neuqua Valley High School, but joined the staff of the Columbia Missourian, the campus newspaper, while concentrating on her advertising major.

For the Missourian she was a general assignment reporter and her father remembers a favorite feature story she wrote her sophomore year.

"It was on political candidates and taking the pulse of students' opinions," Joseph said. "She was very good at digging deep and getting people to tell her things."

Besides her father, Ms. Joseph is survived by her mother, Mary, and her brother, Thomas.

Visitation will take place from 3 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Beidelman-Kunsch Funeral Home, 24021 W. Royal Worlington Drive in Naperville.

A 10:30 a.m. funeral Mass will be held Monday at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 1500 Brookdale Road in Naperville.