Michael Stephan Memorial & Help his family

You may know Mike from his work at the Potawatomi Wildlife Park where he's been the Park Manager since 1991. You might know Mike from his time as a Scout Leader over the years, even his Astronomy club involvement and church involvement.  He might be a friend, a relative, or someone who you just met because of a friend or relative.

No matter how you came here, you're welcome and your help is needed. 

Here are the details as they unfolded:
·      This spring Mike was not well, fighting bouts of pneumonia and illness.
·      After realizing it wasn't COVID or anything else, some scans were done and in the week of April 19th, Mike's doctors found masses on his Kidneys and a large one on his liver. 
·      A biopsy was taken and the results on April 27th showed it was Cholangiocarcinoma, a very rare and aggressive cancer. 
·      Mike was fighting infection due likely to the cancer.
·      A week from the day diagnosed, the doctors sent Mike home in hospice to be with family.
·      On May 7th, 5:03 AM Mike was taken home by Christ while his family held his hand, and held him, praying over him.

The Stephan family has had it tough. Sharon Stephan,  Mike's wife, was diagnosed with a rare cancer Multiple Myeloma back in May 2005 and is still fighting it 15 years later. Sharon hasn't been able to really work much as a result and Mike was the main wage earner in the family. 

Sadly, Mike didn't have any life insurance or a way to handle all the costs. His medical deductible was $12,000. I can only assume he thought he had more time. So while this fundraiser was made to fight the cancer, it has now pivoted to help cover the many costs known and unknown afterward.


Mike & Sharon also have two children, Zoee and Wyatt  Stephan. 

Zoee just graduated Penn State University in December and Wyatt will graduate Purdue University this coming winter in December. They've had a tough time as well, dealing with the shadow of cancer in their family for a long time. But they are awesome and great kids who have always worked hard to help their family. They still are, and during this COVID time, God has blessed both of them to be there helping their family. 

What we're Raising and Why:

You can imagine medical bills, and especially cancer bills are costly. While we're still trying to understand costs, we know people want to give.  We decided $50,000 is a good basis for the costs we know to expect.
They are broken down as:

·      Expected Medical Deductible $12k
·      Newer reliable vehicle: $15k – Mike usually kept vehicles barely running. Since he won’t be able to, they will soon need a newer more reliable vehicle to get to Sharon's appointments. Sharon will still need to get around to deal with her cancer battle which still wages.
·      Funeral expenses: The funeral cost about $11,700.
·      Gravestone: We don't know the cost here but likely to be $2,000-$3,000
·      Misc: There are so many little things like paying off phones, etc... Things that are both known and unknown. 

We know these are tough times for everyone, and wouldn't ask if it weren't needed. With both having cancer, everything was tapped. The family is stepping up, and so many of you are too. We know some wanted to give in some way. So we made this GoFundMe a place where those who wish, can contribute. 

What more info?

See the original post here on CaringBridge and sign-up there for updates.