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Despite setbacks, Lois Steffa perseveres
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| No limits: A host of medical challenges have not stopped valley resident Lois Steffa from pursuing her dreams. (Adam Bernal/photo.) |
Adam Bernal/San Pedro Valley News-Sun
Longtime St. David resident Lois Steffa hasn't let strokes, cancer or other medical problems get in the way of becoming a published author.
Steffa, 63, was born in Iowa and lived there until moving to Arizona in 1976 to pursue potential teaching opportunities. After teaching in Tubac for a year, Steffa arrived in St. David in 1977, where she taught math and was involved in other activities like serving as a sponsor for the National Honor Society and coaching junior high school basketball.
While at St. David, Steffa began to teach higher level math courses such as trigonometry and calculus. Steffa was also a computer teacher in the early 1980s, teaching students how to use computer programs and write computer languages.
Though teaching was always her priority, Steffa said she enjoyed having fun with her students and tried to lighten the mood in her classroom as much as possible. Steffa loved to play games like Aggravation and Golf, and would often bake the class brownies if they did something special.
Steffa said her students told her that she didn't play favorites and would always give them a chance to show what they're made of. Regardless of their background or reputation, Steffa says she was always giving students the opportunity to succeed.
"They always told me I was fair," Steffa said of her former students. "For me seeing is believing, and I believe what I saw."
Steffa had been consistently teaching at St. David up until the 1997-1998 school year, when she had to take a year off after her first stroke.
During her doctor's visit at this time, Steffa learned she had ovarian cancer, which kept her in rehab for almost six months. When she tried to return the following year, Steffa had a second stroke and was forced to take even more time away from school.
Steffa said the strokes did affect the left side of her body but not to the degree where it upset her or ruined her life. Even when she was receiving support during her bout with cancer, Steffa was adamant about staying positive and not letting herself get down.
"It was really irritating to hear the gloom and doom," Steffa said. "I'm a lot better off than other people who had the same stuff."
After she returned to school, Steffa said it was physically difficult to move around without assistance and had to make adjustments to her teaching style. She said the administration was very supportive and helped by providing her with an overhead projector for her classroom and made ramps to help ease her trouble with walking.
Everything appeared to be improving for Steffa until 2003, when she had a stroke, heart attack and a brain hemorrhage at the same time. This time, Steffa was barely clinging to life and did not have a good prognosis from doctors.
"I was in a coma for a week and they gave me 24 hours when they brought me in," Steffa said.
After she came out of her coma and showed signs of gradual improvement, Steffa said it was time for her to officially retire from teaching and concentrate on other aspects of her life. Steffa said she had lost the hearing in her right ear and continued to feel weak on her left side, which made the decision to stop teaching that much easier.
"I knew it was time to quit and decided I had to give it up," Steffa said.
During her recovery period after retiring from St. David, Steffa has remained active by writing, painting, playing bridge and taking classes at Cochise College. Steffa has also stayed busy working as a secretary for the Lion's Club in Benson.
Most notably, Steffa's writing career has recently taken off with the publication of her first book, a fantasy story called "The Star Crystal of the Tomanji."
The story is set in a fantasy world where a prince and his father fought a dragon. The father was killed and the prince was forced to flee. The prince meets up with a woman who is revealed to be a Tomanji, a shape-shifter, and teaches him the ability to change into a dragon himself and face the other dragon again to save his kingdom.
Steffa said the idea came from a creative writing class she took in 2006, where she had to write a novella for a class assignment. After others urged her to look into printing her book, Steffa did the research and got it published in 2009.
"I wrote it for kids and I hope that adults would appreciate it," Steffa said.
With her new book and other activities continuing to keep her occupied, Steffa said she did not want to feel sorry for herself and wants to do as much as possible while she has the opportunity. Health problems and other issues are no excuse for stopping one's life completely, she said.
"Just because you've got a problem doesn't mean you have to quit on the world," Steffa said. "What will come, will come."
"The Star Crystal of the Tomanji" is currently available online at www.amazon.com.
Longtime St. David resident Lois Steffa hasn't let strokes, cancer or other medical problems get in the way of becoming a published author.
Steffa, 63, was born in Iowa and lived there until moving to Arizona in 1976 to pursue potential teaching opportunities. After teaching in Tubac for a year, Steffa arrived in St. David in 1977, where she taught math and was involved in other activities like serving as a sponsor for the National Honor Society and coaching junior high school basketball.
While at St. David, Steffa began to teach higher level math courses such as trigonometry and calculus. Steffa was also a computer teacher in the early 1980s, teaching students how to use computer programs and write computer languages.
Though teaching was always her priority, Steffa said she enjoyed having fun with her students and tried to lighten the mood in her classroom as much as possible. Steffa loved to play games like Aggravation and Golf, and would often bake the class brownies if they did something special.
Steffa said her students told her that she didn't play favorites and would always give them a chance to show what they're made of. Regardless of their background or reputation, Steffa says she was always giving students the opportunity to succeed.
"They always told me I was fair," Steffa said of her former students. "For me seeing is believing, and I believe what I saw."
Steffa had been consistently teaching at St. David up until the 1997-1998 school year, when she had to take a year off after her first stroke.
During her doctor's visit at this time, Steffa learned she had ovarian cancer, which kept her in rehab for almost six months. When she tried to return the following year, Steffa had a second stroke and was forced to take even more time away from school.
Steffa said the strokes did affect the left side of her body but not to the degree where it upset her or ruined her life. Even when she was receiving support during her bout with cancer, Steffa was adamant about staying positive and not letting herself get down.
"It was really irritating to hear the gloom and doom," Steffa said. "I'm a lot better off than other people who had the same stuff."
After she returned to school, Steffa said it was physically difficult to move around without assistance and had to make adjustments to her teaching style. She said the administration was very supportive and helped by providing her with an overhead projector for her classroom and made ramps to help ease her trouble with walking.
Everything appeared to be improving for Steffa until 2003, when she had a stroke, heart attack and a brain hemorrhage at the same time. This time, Steffa was barely clinging to life and did not have a good prognosis from doctors.
"I was in a coma for a week and they gave me 24 hours when they brought me in," Steffa said.
After she came out of her coma and showed signs of gradual improvement, Steffa said it was time for her to officially retire from teaching and concentrate on other aspects of her life. Steffa said she had lost the hearing in her right ear and continued to feel weak on her left side, which made the decision to stop teaching that much easier.
"I knew it was time to quit and decided I had to give it up," Steffa said.
During her recovery period after retiring from St. David, Steffa has remained active by writing, painting, playing bridge and taking classes at Cochise College. Steffa has also stayed busy working as a secretary for the Lion's Club in Benson.
Most notably, Steffa's writing career has recently taken off with the publication of her first book, a fantasy story called "The Star Crystal of the Tomanji."
The story is set in a fantasy world where a prince and his father fought a dragon. The father was killed and the prince was forced to flee. The prince meets up with a woman who is revealed to be a Tomanji, a shape-shifter, and teaches him the ability to change into a dragon himself and face the other dragon again to save his kingdom.
Steffa said the idea came from a creative writing class she took in 2006, where she had to write a novella for a class assignment. After others urged her to look into printing her book, Steffa did the research and got it published in 2009.
"I wrote it for kids and I hope that adults would appreciate it," Steffa said.
With her new book and other activities continuing to keep her occupied, Steffa said she did not want to feel sorry for herself and wants to do as much as possible while she has the opportunity. Health problems and other issues are no excuse for stopping one's life completely, she said.
"Just because you've got a problem doesn't mean you have to quit on the world," Steffa said. "What will come, will come."
"The Star Crystal of the Tomanji" is currently available online at www.amazon.com.
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