Stephanie Ann (Auer) Jobst Bakalar (2022)

AUER, BAKALAR, DAVIS, JENSEN, JOBST, RORAH, SCARLETT, SMITH

Posted By: Pat Hochstetler
Date: 6/30/2024 at 23:24:58

Iles Funeral Home
Des Moines, Iowa
February 2022

Stephanie Ann Bakalar passed away on Monday, February 14, at Methodist Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa.

Stephanie was born in Des Moines on September 2, 1958, to Hannelore Auer. Stephanie moved around to many towns in the central Iowa area as a child including Stuart, Granger, and Earlham. She had many stories of her time in Catholic school at the All Saints Catholic Church in Stuart (mostly happy memories except for a few run-ins with the nuns). We do thank those persistent nuns for teaching her gorgeous script handwriting.

She graduated from Earlham High School in 1976 and married Roy Carl Jobst on March 31, 1978. They raised daughters Heather Anne and Nicole Lierin Jobst on the Jobst Century Farm. Stephanie enjoyed baking, sewing, various crafts, and competitive Scrabble. She was a fairly talented baker but had many hilarious baking fails. She sewed beautiful costumes and dresses for her daughters, and an ornate baptism gown for her grandchildren.

Stephanie had many professional roles focusing on work in journalism, communications, education, and politics. She studied advertising at Drake University in 1998, then gave birth to Miya Cassandra Davis (daughter of Haruhiko Davis) in 2000.

At one point, Stephanie raised an infant, wrangled a high schooler with a busy schedule, and worked two jobs all at the same time. One of those jobs was as a crisis coordinator at the Crisis Intervention and Advocacy Center in Adel. She worked with countless victims to get them emergency placement safe from their abusers. She gathered donations of food and care for them, all at a time when she barely had the same for herself.

Stephanie approached life with strong curiosity and healthy skepticism. She encouraged all around her to read, challenge their thinking, listen, travel, and generally stretch their minds. She took her three daughters to musicals, on global trips, and as guests to her courses at Drake University.

As a result, her daughters all grew up with that same curiosity. All three became Drake Bulldogs. They have four degrees among them, with Miya nearly completing the fifth. Stephanie’s greatest pride was her three daughters and two grandchildren, Riley and Merritt Smith.

Stephanie was an early adopter of technology and the internet. She made many new friends across the globe, and reconnected with old ones. Eventually she found an old classmate, Mike Bakalar. They reconnected and later married in 2014. Mike passed away in December 2020.

Her last Facebook profile picture was a list of books that have been banned in public libraries or public schools. She read every one of them. We encourage you to read a banned book, or buy one for a friend, in her memory.

Stephanie is preceded in death by her mother Hannelore Auer, and her foster family whom she loved dearly, Margaret and Willis Jensen, John Scarlett and Alta Rorah. She is survived by daughters Heather Jobst, Niki (Ryan) Smith, Miya Davis, and grandchildren Riley and Merritt Smith.

ARRANGEMENTS MADE BY ILES WESTOVER CHAPEL