It is with great sadness that the family of Stephen Dow Proffitt announces his passing on April 2019 in Newport Beach, CA. Stephen was born in 1940 in Oakland, CA to Gordon and Muriel Proffitt.

Revered by those that knew him, adored by those that knew him well, Stephen lived many lives in a lifetime ended too soon.  He was a child of the Great Depression.  He learned early on the value of hard work and self-sufficiency.  Throughout his life, he touted the value of education, a perpetual student himself, and never stopped learning.  He graduated in 1961, from University of California, Berkeley.  He graduated medical school in 1965 from UCSF Medical School, and he completed his residency in Otorhinolaryngology (ENT) at Stanford University and later completed a fellowship in facial plastic surgery.  By then, he had two sons, Michael and David.  He began his medical career and post-graduate life in Southern California when orange groves still dominated the geography. He married Rebecca Elizabeth Rupracht in September of 1973. Stephen and Rebecca had two daughters, Rachel Bonita-Louise and Sarah Elizabeth-Dow. Stephen and Rebecca welcomed 6 grandchildren, 2 from each family.

Stephen was a philanthropist, a linguist, a lover-of-language and music, a culture connoisseur, a runner, a swimmer, a poet, a sailor, a scuba diver, an Eagle Scout, a devoted husband and an adoring father.  He loved the water and the mountains, spent countless hours in and around the ocean, including at his beloved beach house in Leucadia, California and diving the Great Barrier Reef, and on Lake Tahoe in his boat " Bubbles and Blue Bell's Beau-t ", and reveling in the powder in the Sierras when the snow fell.

He retired early (at 55) and devoted his time to serving communities near and abroad––helping those less fortunate in Santa Ana, Mexico, Ukraine, Haiti, Africa, and China. Eventually, he gravitated to the warmth of the Arizona desert.  The community of SaddleBrooke, outside of Tucson, stole his heart and he embraced every moment; loving the sun, medaling in his masters swimming competitions, and making lifelong friends.

When his health declined after a series of strokes, he and Rebecca moved back to California to be closer to their children.  He passed on April 10, 2019 surrounded by his girls.  He is survived by his wife, Rebecca, his daughters, Rachel (Chris) and her children Greyson and Ella, and Sarah (John) and her children, John and Jacob, and his son David (Jill) and his children, Michael and Jennifer.

Stephen will be missed by many and in our hearts forever.

Family and friends are invited to sign his online guest book at www.FRFH.net