Stebbins brings wedding to ‘family’

In the 13 years she’s worked at St. Luke’s Nursing Center in Carthage, Julie Stebbins has come to consider the residents and staff there her family.

So it was only natural to Stebbins that when she decided to wed Dennis Connell, an Australian-born resident of Carthage for the past 20 years, she invite her direct family and the huge extended family to the ceremony.

And because some of those in that second family don’t travel well, she decided to bring that ceremony to them.

Stebbins and Connell were married in St. Luke’s chapel in front of their children and more than 100 residents and staff at the center.

The Rev. Steve Wilson from Grace Episcopal Church, one of two ministers who performed the ceremony, was impressed by the crowd.

“This is the eighth wedding I’ve officiated in this year,” Wilson told the happy couple and their children. “You are the first person who said she wanted a small wedding and it is by far the largest of those eight weddings.”

The couple stood with their children, Connell’s sons, Stephen and Ashley Connell; Ashley’s wife, Shandy Connell; and Julie Stebbins’ father, Bill Scheppy; and daughter, Candice Stebbins.
It’s the second wedding for the couple; they are both widowed.

The two have known each other for seven months. They started dating after they were introduced to each other by Stebbins best friend.

“I was hoping to find nice company, a date to spend time with,” Connell said. “We hit it off perfectly from the start.”

Stebbins said she couldn’t think of any other place to have the ceremony.

“All of these people here are my family,” Stebbins said. “I’ve been here for 13 years and I love all of them, the staff too. I couldn’t think of anywhere else I’d rather have this ceremony.”

Stebbins said the staff helped her plan the event.

“It epitomizes the fact that we’re family,” said St. Luke’s Director Sue Joslen. “She wanted all the residents to attend and this was the best way to do it.”

Joslen said this was the first time in her memory that an employee had chosen to get married at the center.

“We’ve had residents renew their vows and one former resident’s daughter got married here so her mother could attend,” Joslen said. “But this is a first and the residents are so excited.”

Connell said he never thought of getting married in a place like St. Luke’s, but he warmed up to the idea quickly.

“It seems to be a nice place to have it,” Connell said. “It is a little different and the crowd is bigger than I ever imagined.”

The happy couple said they plan to spend their honeymoon at Eureka Springs, Ark.