As a tenured professor at Purdue University and Western International University, Dr. Stepanich published articles in academic journals, which she dismisses as “boring.” On the other hand, during her fifty- year membership in Sweet Adelines International (a world-wide organization for women who sing four-part harmony, barbershop style), she wrote humorous scripts and musical arrangements for quartets and chorus shows.
After retiring from the university, Dr. Stepanich embarked on a career in volunteerism. However, her volunteer career did not include anything as noble as caring for the sick and homeless. No, her aspirations took her in directions that met her own needs – the need for fun, humor, light heartedness, and show business.
She became a volunteer broadcaster for Sun Sounds of Arizona, a radio reading service for the blind and print-disabled, where she wrote original radio theater productions and read nostalgic magazine stories about the good old days. Her radio play, “Voices From the Front,” was honored as the 2010 Program of the Year from the International Association of Audio Information Services.
Not content with this twice-a-week activity, she added a volunteer job as a researcher/interviewer for the Sun Health Research Institute, interviewing the elderly in pursuit of the variables that contribute to a long, healthy life. The result of her research? She concluded that “Laughter IS the best medicine!”
Throughout her busy retired life, Mary Ellen continues to perform in her comedy barbershop quartet, Lilac Crazy. She says, “We chose that name – not because we’re crazy about the color lilac – but because we LIE LIKE CRAZY!”
But Mary Ellen doesn’t lie, she just tells stories. Dr. Stepanich currently lives in Arizona with her cat, Cookie.
Humor she wrote 