Stephania (Stefi) O. Hanold, 89, of Peoria, Illinois died June 2, 2026 in Peoria, IL.
Born January 9, 1937, in New York City to Stephan Steiner and Olga (Rettner) Steiner, she married Wayne L. Hanold on July 5, 1958. Preceded in death by her husband Wayne Hanold, her half-brother William (wife Irme) Steiner and half-brother Eugene (wife Anneliese) Paul of Germany. Surviving are her children, Kurt (wife Michelle) of Peoria IL, Todd (wife Katharine) of Highland Park, IL and daughter Mitzi of Washington DC, and six grandchildren Noah (wife Emma), Rowan, Emmett, Owen, Sophie, and Theodore.
Stefi grew up in Queens NY, attended Jamaica High School and Oswego Teachers’ College before transferring to the University of Illinois where she met Wayne and married. She taught 1st and 2nd grades in Gary Indiana and Peoria IL before having children. Thereafter she was involved in Christian’s Women’s Club, Law Wives, Easter Seals, Peoria Garden Club, the Hosta Society, and the YMCA Board, organizing the Children’s Bazaar for many years.
Stefi was a seamstress, artist, avid gardener, fashionista and homemaker. She was hardworking, a trait inherited from her immigrant parents. Everything that she put her hands to was done with excellence, whether that was refinishing her mid-century modern home, setting a dinner table for her monthly gourmet group, teaching her grandchildren the love of reading and the arts, or planting vast amounts of Hosta and daffodils in her garden.
Although she devoted much of her efforts in upholding the beauty of the environment in which she raised her family, her number one devotion was to her loving husband, Wayne. They enjoyed traveling together, walking, dancing, gardening and most of all just sitting hand-in-hand in one another’s presence. Their devotion, loyalty and love were the bedrock for her life and all that flowed from it.
A graveside funeral service will be held June 23, 2026, at 11am at Brighton Cemetery in Brighton, IL. Memorials may be made to the Peoria Art Guild. Condolences may be left online at www.andersonfamilyfuneral.com.
