Stephanie Elizabeth (Egley) Rouse, born Aug. 30, 1946, to Clifton Carl and Gertrude Elizabeth (Scott) Egley in Sioux City, Iowa, suffered a fatal, catastrophic stroke on March 18, 2024, in Burnsville, Minnesota.
An avid artist and writer throughout her childhood in Grand Island, Stephanie graduated from the University of Nebraska with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. While a student working as a writer and editor at the Grand Island Independent, she met Gerald Edward Rouse, a law student who worked in the printing department. They were married Aug. 31, 1968. Stephanie continued in journalism, working as an editor at the Lincoln Journal until Gerald’s first law position brought the couple to Columbus. There they welcomed daughter, Suzanne Elizabeth Rouse, May 27, 1971.
Stephanie began graduate school on the day her daughter started kindergarten. Despite a three-hour round-trip commute, she completed her coursework in psychology. She earned a position in the State of Nebraska’s welfare department, assessing potential foster families. After moving to Seward, where she was a cherished member of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Stephanie transitioned into immigration services, where she assessed citizenship applicants for the federal government. She and Gerald celebrated their joint retirement in 2012. Gerald, a career judge, passed away in 2017.
In 2022, Stephanie moved with her brother, Dorn Egley, for whom she acted as primary caretaker, to Burnsville, Minnesota, to be closer to daughter, Suzanne, son-in-law, Dan, and treasured granddaughter, Mila Schissel. A lifelong episcopalian, Stephanie became a member of Burnsville’s Church of the Nativity.
Stephanie will be remembered as a helper. Her life revolved, in many ways, around the advancement of children’s welfare, in and beyond the foster care and criminal legal systems. She cared deeply about equality and the dignity of all people. She wanted everyone to have a fair shot and to be treated with respect, and she took it upon herself to learn about and advocate for minority groups and underserved populations.
Stephanie will also be remembered as an accomplished painter and ceramicist, keen reader, and lifelong learner. The many friends and family members mourning her loss include daughter and son-in-law, Suzanne and Dan Schissel and granddaughter, Mila, Bloomington, Minnesota; brother, Dorn Egley, Burnsville; cousin, Linda Woods, Valley Center, Kansas; the members of the Sophia study group, Seward; and the congregations of the Church of the Nativity (Burnsville) and St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (Seward).
Services will be held at a later date in Seward at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, where Stephanie and Gerald Rouse were active members for many years. They will be buried together in a family plot in Grand Island. Arrangements by Zabka-Perdue Funeral Home.
