Stephanie Loudis April 15, 1945 - April 24, 2022
Miami, Florida - Stephanie Cleone Loudis, 77, of Kendall, a beloved teacher at Miami Palmetto and Miami High schools, passed away Sunday, April 24, 2022 while on vacation in Costa Rica.
During her 40-year career, Stephanie taught honors English and creative writing to hundreds of students, most recently at Palmetto and previously at Miami High, where she began her teaching career in the mid-1970s.
For years, she was also a prolific freelancer and wrote a weekly local television column for the Miami Herald. She also briefly worked at Air Florida - and used her travel perks to see the world. But teaching was Stephanie’s calling and life’s work.
She was that special high school teacher who later in life you credited with changing it, performing that magic trick for scores of students every year.
Stephanie has been a past finalist for Miami-Dade Teacher of the Year, tapped for her creative classroom lesson plans, her no-childleft-behind attitude and her love of literature, which she tried to instill in her students, and often succeeded. She retired in 2013 and became a respected tutor in the district and also launched her life of fun and travel. The oldest of six children, Stephanie was a true Baby Boomer. She was born on April 15, 1945, in Ogden, Utah where her late father, Fred, had been stationed during World War II. He used his G.I. Bill to attend college and move his family to Miami, eventually buying a home with her beloved mother Donna in Biscayne Gardens. Her father worked with U.S. Customs at MIA, and Stephanie’s mother was a dedicated nurse. As the couple’s first baby, Stephanie was followed by five more children, four girls and a boy. Stephanie was beloved by her siblings, who looked to her for guidance and level-headed advice. “Let’s ask Steph,” was a common refrain. Stephanie was a 1963 graduate of North Miami High, then Miami Dade College and Florida Atlantic University. Highlights of her young life included memorable summer jobs at the 1964 New York World’s Fair and Catskills resorts. Throughout life, she often traveled to Estes Park, Co., where her maternal grandparents’ had lived.Stephanie loved her family and friends, democratic activism, her spiritual journey, Barbra Streisand, poetry, word games and traveling. Her latest passion was her two great nephews, Riley, 7, and Knox, 1. She adored the boys, loved babysitting them and wanted to make a difference in their lives.
Stephanie was vacationing in Playa Negra in Costa Rica’s Caribbean Coast when she died on April 24, 2022.
She is survived by siblings: Leroy (Sandy) Loudis, Lorelei Loudis, Margo Loudis, Toni Loudis McKnight and Wendi Loudis; her beloved nieces, Nelle Robb (Daniel Hooghkirk) and Lauren McKnight, and great nephews Riley Hansen and Knox Landa.
Stephanie was also beloved by scores of close friends from South Florida to Maryland to California, friends from all walks of life who adored Stephanie’s joyful and warm spirit, kind heart, sense of humor and intelligence. She was always always - there for them, and they will forever miss her.
A Celebration of Life for Stephanie will be held on Thursday, May 12, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Coral Gables Congregational Church, 3010 De Soto Blvd. Coral Gables.