STEPHANIE THOMAS
President 2011-2012
By Tiffany Greene
Stephanie Thomas was born in Salt Lake, but spent her childhood living in different locations throughout Louisiana and Texas. Her father, Daniel Thomas, worked for Albertsons, and was transferred regularly during Stephanie’s growing up years. When she was 14, Stephanie moved back to Utah with her mother, Shirley Mecham Thomas, and younger brother in order to be closer to extended family members. She remembers being surprised by the “bubble” in which many Utahns lived and was glad to have experienced life in different areas of the country. She experienced quite a culture shock as she navigated her teenage years in Salt Lake City. Stephanie welcomed her two beautiful daughters into her life early on, having her first child at age 17, and her second child three years later. A few years after the birth of her second child, Stephanie met her first wife Billie Sorensen, who was her partner for 25 years, and together they raised Kayla and Kamra.
Stephanie was never interested in politics growing up, nor was she particularly engaged during young adulthood. She would always vote, but admits she never closely followed any campaigns or paid attention to any political issues. It wasn’t until her brother in law, John Rendell, ran for the state legislature in 2008 that she became active with the Democratic party in Utah. Her sister, Becky Thomas Rendell, invited Stephanie to come to a WDC luncheon, and Stephanie recalls, “between Laura Jo McDermaid, Billie Larson, and Coral Coffey, I never stood a chance of getting out of that lunch without being a member of the club!” The women who recruited her into the club became her mentors and exemplars. Stephanie served in various positions on the WDC board for nearly 10 years, including recorder, treasurer, and public relations liaison. As a member of the WDC she was also informed and engaged in the state legislative session each year. She states, “I found my voice when I was a young adult, I learned to use that voice while in service to the Women’s Democratic Club.”
While on the WDC board, Stephanie helped to enlarge the fundraising apparatus of the club. She was instrumental in establishing the WDC merchandising effort: selling mugs, tshirts, and tote bags with the WDC logo. She worked together with other WDC board members and the Salt Lake Acting Company to initiate the annual “Saturday’s Voyeur” WDC fundraiser event. She was also dedicated to expanding the monthly WDC auction. Once, when Stephanie donated a lovely red hand bag from her personal purse collection to the auction, she was shocked when a bidding war broke out over the item! She knew the auctions could be developed into a more lucrative fundraising tool for the club. She was the first to include baked goods in the auction, and the taste buds of WDC members were in for a real treat! Most known for her coconut cakes, Stephanie made different delectable items to sell each month. In addition to her own delicious confections, Stephanie recruited other club members to make and auction off baked goods as well. Most notably, she ensured that Coral Coffey’s secret-recipe-gingersnap-cookies were included in the auction offering.
In addition to her fundraising efforts, Stephanie expanded the club’s community outreach, particularly with members of the LGBTQ community. During her time in club leadership, the WDC increased their participation in the Salt Lake Pride Parade and Festival. She also worked with former WDC president, Billie Larson, to open up WDC membership to men, as well as adjust language in the WDC constitution to be gender neutral and more inclusive. Elected to serve as president of the club in 2013, Stephanie served as the first openly gay president of the WDC. She married Billie at the City and County Building in December of 2013, just a few days after same sex marriage was legally recognized in Utah. She and Billie separated in 2016. Stephanie married Merlyn Mayoh in August of 2018.
During her time as WDC president, Stephanie was simultaneously taking care of her young adult children, working full time in retail management, and also pursuing a college degree. “Running the club is almost like a full-time job,” she recalls, “there’s a reason that retired women had run it up until that point!” Despite her busy schedule, Stephanie devoted much time and energy to the WDC. She was motivated by the wonderful women who had mentored her, as well as by the important work in which she knew the club was engaged. Speaking of her involvement in the club, she states, “The women I have met and worked with over the years...have inspired me so much. I would not be the same person I am today without the impact they have made in my life. I can’t express the love I have for them.” When her term was nearly over, health issues and an ankle injury required that Stephanie step down as WDC president, though she still served on the board as past-president until further health issues made regular involvement in the WDC impossible.
In March of 2018, Stephanie was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. Extensive surgery and radiation treatment was urgently required. Radiation treatments complicated the healing of her surgical wounds, and as a result, she traveled every day for 6 months from her home in Herriman to the Huntsman Cancer Institute for checkups and wound dressing. After two emergency surgeries, Stephanie was able to receive home health care, and “Norman the Pump” became her new companion. She couldn’t wait for the day when she could break up that relationship! It was a trying time for Stephanie, but eventually her body healed and she gained back her strength. If not for the care provided by doctors and nurses, and the support given by her wife and children, she would not have made it through such a harrowing experience. Ever the purse collector, Stephanie now looks forward to her bi-annual visits to the Huntsman Cancer Institute. “They have the best purse collection up there!” Stephanie explains. “Twice a year, I celebrate another 6 months of living and buy myself a purse!” She has a collection that fills an entire wall in her house.
When she isn’t working as office manager of TyAut Design, Stephanie and her wife love to travel in their RV, always looking for new destinations to visit and explore. She also adores her 3 grandchildren. Knowing that she worked so much during her own children’s growing up years, her advice to her daughters is this: “Slow down and pay attention. Life moves by so quickly that if you don’t, you’ll miss it!”