Obituary of Steven Dale Ripplinger

Steven Dale Ripplinger was born on November 21, 1984 with a mutated gene in his body and when Steven was 5 years old we discovered that he had Muscular Dystrophy. At 9 years old he went into a wheelchair, by the time he was 15 he could no longer feed himself and at 20 years old he had to be placed on a ventilator. He could not move, needed mechanical assistance to breathe and eventually at the end he could no longer talk. And yet Steven’s capacity for love, his good humour, his positive outlook and his generosity touched and inspired all of us who knew him. He never felt sorry for himself and rarely complained. The only times he got really upset was when the Riders, the Ottawa Senators or the Pats lost a game! The closest he ever came to expressing dissatisfaction with his life was one time when he said, “You know sometimes I think that maybe my life might have been better if I didn’t have this disease”. With qualifiers like ‘sometimes’ ‘maybe’ and ‘might’ he wasn’t even convinced that his situation was that bad. One Sunday night when we were complaining about having to go back to work on Monday, Steven remarked, “I’m lucky, I don’t have to work. Every day is like a Saturday for me.” He often told people that he was retired. One of the great purposes of Steven’s life was to raise money for Telemiracle. Steven never received any assistance from the Kinsmen Foundation so he was not motivated by a sense of obligation to payback. When asked during one of his many on air presentations why he worked so hard and raised so much money for Telemiracle, he simply replied that he knew many people needed money and he just wanted to help “those less fortunate.” And help he did. Through his REALM Foundation network and support of friends and family he was able to raise almost $100,000.00 for Telemiracle. These efforts and the inspirational manner in which Steven lived lead to much recognition and many honours. However that was never the reason he did what he did, it surprised him when he received them and he always accepted them humbly. He was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Volunteer medal by Lieutenant Governor Vaughn Schofield and later recognized as a recipient of such by Prince Charles when he last visited Saskatchewan. Prior to this meeting with the Prince, Steven was introduced to the Legislative Assembly where his work on behalf of Telemiracle was recognized by a standing ovation from all of the MLAs present. This was in fact the second time he met the Prince because several years earlier he had been selected to cut the ribbon with Prince Charles to open the wheelchair accessible Prince of Wales entrance at the Legislative Building. Steven’s commitment to Telemiracle fundraising had also been previously recognized when in 2012 he was named as an Honourary Kinsmen in the Regina Queen City Kin Club. In October of 2007 Steven realized a long held dream of watching his beloved Ottawa Senators play live in the Nation’s Capital. As difficult as it is to travel with an electric wheelchair and a ventilator Steven, his brother Daniel and 2 attendants drove from Regina to Ottawa where he attended 2 NHL games as a guest of the Senators enjoying the game from box seats provided for him by the team. He was also invited to meet the team in the dressing room after the game and Daniel says many of the players were as excited to meet him as he was to meet them. A Leader Post story about his trip lead to other media attention and tv stations and newspapers across the country followed his journey. His story also caught the attention of then Prime Minister Stephen Harper who invited Steven to visit him in his office. In addition to meeting Royalty, Prime Ministers and professional athletes, Steven made many friends on the cast of Telemiracle, who were always in awe of his abilities despite his disabilities. Steven was also a bit of a celebrity, not only appearing numerous times on Telemiracle to make his presentations but also featured in many newspaper articles and television interviews, often highlighting his accomplishments as a disabled person and his desire to just do good work. As quoted in one Leader Post article his motivation was simple: “I’m just doing this to help other people because I know they need help.” This caring attitude prevailed in his personal life as well. He was always concerned about other people. When he talked of dying he wasn’t afraid of death but was worried about the people he would leave behind. Only days before death with his body full of infection, his lung capacity at only 25% of one lung and his organs shutting down he told his parents that they worried too much about him. Imagine. Steven and his smiling face and bright eyes will be sadly missed but always remembered by his mother Donalda Jones and her little dog Libbi who loved Steven as much as he loved her, his dad Dale and fiancée Annette Katchan and her daughter Madison Soparlo, his brother and best friend Daniel and his girlfriend Tarren Hagan, his sister Katherine and her partner Jeff Blyth and their son, Steven’s special little nephew Emmett, his grandmothers Laura Jones and Lorraine Selinger, his grandfather James Ripplinger, aunts, uncles and cousins, his REALM Network, supportive attendants, the caring staff at WRC, his educational assistants and numerous friends. There is a line in an Eagles song that goes, “I believe in second chances, I believe in Angels too.” This could have been Steven’s motto because he always gave everyone the benefit of the doubt and as for angels, well he was one. Since Steven was a little boy we have been preparing for this day…but you can never be prepared. We always knew it would be difficult but never imagined it would be this hard. No heartache is forever but this is going to hurt for a very long time.