(FREE) Planned Peace Pavilion Will Honor Dr. Stephanie Husen With a Gathering Place at East Lake Ponca at 3:00 pm
(FREE) Planned Peace Pavilion Will Honor Dr. Stephanie Husen With a Gathering Place at East Lake Ponca at 3:00 pm
Story by Carey Head | Staff Writer
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“She Brought the Fun”
Friday, April 19, 2024, will mark what would have been Stephanie Husen’s 50th birthday. To mark the milestone, family, friends and city officials will gather at one of her favorite places at 3:00 pm to wish her “Happy Birthday in Heaven.”
This April 19 also will be the ceremonial groundbreaking for “The Peace Pavilion.” This new construction will become a lasting tribute to Stephanie, as well as a gift to the people of Ponca City. The Peace Pavilion will be located by the old Sailboat Marina on East Lake Ponca.
For those who hadn’t met Stephanie, she was an entrance maker.
Not that she tried.
But those sky-blue eyes and the cascade of blond hair made Stephanie Husen noticeable.
But there’s another physical feature which her friends and family are united in what made Stephanie truly stand out: Her smile.
“Throughout her entire life and career, Stephanie never met a stranger and ALWAYS had a smile for everyone,” shares close friend and classmate Vicki Rahme Fairchild. “You knew when she walked into a room, even if you were a stranger. Her smile was constant. Her personality was infectious; everyone truly loved her.”
Kristen Wynn Hallcroft agrees, “She had a magnetic personality — you just wanted to be around her and laugh and have a good time.She was a true friend to all. We always said she was “INCLUSIVE” to anyone and everyone.What a great quality to have. She had so many good friends because she was such a good friend to all!I can still hear her laugh, see her smile, and I strive to be like her every day.”
Wynn Hallcroft met Stephanie in the seventh grade and they instantly bonded. The girls stayed fast friends through junior high, high school, college and beyond. Wynn Hallcroft and Stephanie were suite mates at the University of Oklahoma and pledged Chi Omega sorority together. Stephanie was a bridesmaid in her 1997 wedding to Tim Hallcroft.
Rahme Fairchild and Stephanie maintained a strong bond even after college graduation and shared a core group of friends created from working in Oklahoma City. “This ‘OKC Mafia’ was such a huge part of her everyday life for many years. They have countless memories: OU games, children’s plays, birthdays, Friendsgivings, travels and concerts,” Rahme Fairchild explains.
Another Po-Hi classmate had the good fortune of growing up with Stephanie. Carl Szafranski considers Stephanie his first best (girl) friend. The two kids developed a strong friendship from their strollers as their mothers walked the shores of Lake Ponca and enjoyed the nearby Nature Trail. The Szafranskis lived adjacent to Lake Ponca on Ginger Drive, while Stephanie grew up on the shore of East Lake Ponca in what is known as the old schoolhouse.
Dr. Husen’s Heart Was in Healing
After graduating Po-Hi in 1992, Stephanie studied physical therapy at OU, completed her training and opened a physical therapy practice. The call to study medicine led Stephanie to complete a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Tulsa. She completed an Internal Medicine and Pediatrics residency and a fellowship in sports medicine. Stephanie became a sports and internal medicine specialist at Saint Francis Warren Clinic. She maintained her practice for seven years until Wednesday, June 1, 2022.
As her workday was ending, Stephanie was killed in a mass shooting at the Natalie Building on the Saint Francis campus. A patient, upset about ongoing back pain following surgery two weeks prior, shot and killed his surgeon, Dr. Preston Phillips, and others who “got in his way.” Also murdered were receptionist Amanda Glenn and William Love, the husband of a patient.
The next day, Po-Hi Class of 1992 Reunion Committee member Stacey Smith posted, “Ponca City Class of 1992 lost our leader, Dr. Stephanie Husen, yesterday in the tragic Tulsa Mass Murder … Friends, we will continue with our class reunion this weekend that Stephanie was planning. Her parents suggested that we celebrate her and the town she loved so much.”
Stephanie’s death occurred just two days before her 30th high school reunion. Stephanie had played a very active role on the planning committee. Her parents, Joyce and Greg Husen, were firm in their recommendation to hold the reunion as planned.
A Place for Peace Now Planned
Within weeks of the tragedy, Stephanie’s family was casting around for a suitable tribute for their daughter that would be a user-friendly asset for all to enjoy. The “what” remained elusive; but the “who” came immediately to mind: Childhood bestie, Carl Szafranski. He had grown up to become one of Oklahoma’s most celebrated landscape architects. The Husens hoped he could be persuaded to take the idea from blank paper to tranquil reality.
“The Husens called me about a month after the accident and asked me to do this,” Szafranski explains. “I told them I needed a few more months to observe and process. Obviously, I took it as an honor to even be asked by essentially a second set of parents. I attribute a lot of my upbringing to Greg and Joyce just because Stephanie was my first friend in life. Best friends forever.”
He continues, “I was able, I think, to emotionally remove myself from what the project was about and be a landscape architect. So, I treated it like we treat all our public works where we put together questionnaires … to get public opinion.”
Szafranski describes the questionnaire as being composed of very generic questions asking for input on which colors, textures, animals and descriptive words come to mind when thinking of Stephanie. First to receive the questionnaire were the 23 members of the class of 1992 still in close communication, dubbed “the Ponca Family.” Also included were friends from college days and her medical community.
The responses were summarized, and Szafranski’s team shared the information with Greg and Joyce. “They kind of pared that down to what was important to them. And almost all the answers were the same on every question. It was pretty incredible,” he says.
Teen Hangout Plays a Starring Role
How were people able to come to the same conclusions from knowing Stephanie? “I call her my ‘best friend,’ but I’m one of probably 40 that say the same thing because she made everybody around her feel that good and she was that available to people,” Szafranski explains.
“It wasn’t a pavilion at first. We talked about doing a dog park, we talked about all sorts of different things. It then migrated into what it is today. The Husens felt it was very important that it was a space for the public to gather and think and celebrate.”
Szafranski explains why the Peace Pavilion will be sited at East Lake Ponca, “It was the 1990-ish to about 1994-ish teenage hangout ... That was Stephanie and my hangout every Friday night and Saturday night. We called it “Sailboat Side” because there were four Lake Ponca locations to meet, and Sailboat was the main one. I mean every Friday and Saturday night that thing would be lined with high school cars until the Park Ranger told us to wrap it up.”
He continues, “This location seemed secluded enough, yet public enough to meet what Greg and Joyce wanted. It’s kind of off the beaten path but not off the beaten path.”
It’s taken nearly a year of work to get to the planned April 19 ceremonial groundbreaking. It will be a celebration of Stephanie, as well as a thank you to those she continues to influence, including those donating their time to see this project become reality. Along with Carl Szafranski Landscape Architecture, Tulsa; are Richard Winterrowd, Winterrowd Talley Architecture, Ponca City; Bret Smith, Ponca City Noon AMBUCS; structural engineer Jahan Abdoveis, Foundation Engineering, Inc., Tulsa; and Chris Murphy, interior designer, Chris Murphy Interiors, Tulsa.
“I call her my ‘best friend,’ but I’m one of probably 40 that say the same thing because she made everybody around her feel that good and she was that available to people.” — Carl Szafranski
The Peace Pavilion will be 3,439 square feet of protected and patio spaces. Under roof is 35-foot x 41-foot space with furnished seating, wall seating, a fireplace and artwork. Outside areas include play court, patios, fire pit and a grilling area for an additional 2,004 square feet of patio space.
Teamwork Is Bringing This Gift to Life
Thanks to Ponca City Noon AMBUCS’ successful track record constructing outdoor play spaces, Smith says, “Greg Husen reached out to the AMBUCS some six months ago and the AMBUCS offered to get involved and manage (the project). It is an unbelievable team effort of kindness, donation — there’s been no money spent on any design or any bidding — it’s just a great community and team with groups getting involved and developing what we have today.”
Smith adds, “We’ve got all kinds of people involved, including volunteers. The whole club immediately got behind this. I’ve talked to a couple of contractors here in town, and they said they’re in, knowing that it is going to be as much donating, whether it is in-kind or monetary, as we can possibly get to make this thing work well.”
In designing the Peace Pavilion, top of mind was maintenance and longevity. To that end, Szafranski says they are using “the stoutest materials we can find, thus we are doing steel framing, masonry walls, epoxy inlay tile, metal shingles, composite ceiling … We’re really trying to make it as user friendly as humanly possible, yet stout. The foundation is insanely overbuilt. Long wear, low maintenance for the City of Ponca City, that was one of the biggest (considerations) and then long, long wear. One thing that Eric Newell has requested is an anti-vandalism (sealant) paint to protect all vertical elements from lasting effects of graffiti.
Once completed, the Peace Pavilion will be gifted to the City of Ponca City.
In reflecting on its potential as both a memorial and a place to find peace, it’s Rahme Fairchild who found the words. She shares, “Sadly, Stephanie’s life was tragically taken and a piece of all of us is missing. When the Peace Pavilion is finished, it will be a beautiful place designed to honor and remember our dear Stephanie, as well as to offer a sense of peace and healing to those of us who are grieving. The Peace Pavilion’s location, both at Ponca Lake and in Ponca City, perfectly represent Stephanie’s past roots and it will serve as a reminder to present and future generations of Stephanie’s special life and her amazing accomplishments. It will be a place that anyone may go to reflect, remember and heal. It will truly be a place of peace.”
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