This week, we’re taking a trip back to February 2021 for a special Valentine’s Day edition of our Alumni Spotlight! Dr. Dan Eichenberger and Stephanie Marie (Wolz) Eichenberger both graduated in 1981 from New Albany High School and Floyd Central High School, respectively. Although they shared the same friends and community, they never met until fate brought them together at Floyd Memorial Hospital in 1983.
Stephanie, the youngest RN ever hired at Floyd Memorial, and Dan, who had been working there for several years, found each other through the encouragement of friends and family. Their love story blossomed quickly, leading to a marriage the same year they met.
After decades of professional success and community involvement, Dan and Stephanie now enjoy time with their family and continue to stay active and engaged in their passions.
💞Their Advice for a Happy Marriage: “Never quit wanting to take adventures together. Openness, transparency, shared faith, and shared short-term and long-term goals are key.”
Read more about their inspiring story and how NAHS and FCHS helped shape their lives. Don’t miss out on this heartwarming tale of love and success! ⬇️
Excerpt from the February 2021 Legacy Ledger (Issue 6):
Dr. Eichenberger and Stephanie Marie (Wolz) Eichenberger graduated from New Albany High School and Floyd Central High School, respectively, in 1981. Although they grew up in the same community and shared the same friends from high school and extracurricular activities, the two never met until Floyd Memorial Hospital brought them together in 1983. Stephanie was the youngest RN Floyd Memorial had ever hired, and Dan had already been working there for 4-5 years in environmental services and as an orderly. Dan’s grandmother was in the hospital, and his mother inquired if Stephanie knew Dan and pushed her to meet him. Several co-workers who wanted to play matchmaker for the two began to intervene even though Stephanie wasn’t interested initially. They dated soon after that and married later the same year.
After high school, Stephanie graduated with an Associate Degree in Nursing from Purdue University in December 1982. She later went on to achieve a Bachelors in General Studies with pre-med requirements from Indiana University Southeast in 1996 and a Masters Degree in Christian Apologetics from Biola University in 2006. She has been a Registered Nurse since 1983 where she has practiced nursing in critical care, emergency care, urology, outpatient surgery pre-op and recovery, and outpatient heart and vascular. She has also served as an adjunct professor at Ivy Tech, IUS, and Simmons Bible College. Stephanie has strong familial roots with NAFCS going back to her lately departed mother, Mary Wolz, who was a substitute bus driver for the corporation. Her identical twin, Martha Fessel, served full-time as NAFC Corp as a bus driver for over 30 years. Stephanie also served as the FCHS PTO-Renaissance president for two consecutive years. She and Dan led the first FCHS health physicals that served as a fundraiser for the PTO Renaissance. The effort continued for several years after their sons, Daniel FCHS class of 2002, and Jake, FCHS class of 2003, graduated.
Dan graduated from Indiana University Southeast in 1985 with BA in Chemistry. He later went on to graduate from Medical School at the University of Louisville in 1990. He completed a 4-year Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency in 1994 and began practicing in Lanesville in 1992. During his residency, he opened the practice Physician Associates of Floyds Knobs in August 1994. There, he continued the practice until January 2020.
Dan is no stranger to community involvement. He served two years as deputy coroner for Floyd County, nine years as Floyd County Jail physician, eight years as the chief medical officer for Floyd Memorial Hospital, and five years as the CEO of Floyd Memorial Hospital. Dan’s roots to NAHS go back to both of his parents (graduates of classes 1940 and 1941) and his five siblings, who also all graduated from NAHS.
Lately, the couple has enjoyed slowing down a bit while enjoying time with their four children and multiple grandchildren. Stephanie enjoys Lean-X exercise classes at the 4B Crossfit Gym and is a member of the Liberty Belles, a women’s gun club that offers safety and gun training. Dan and Stephanie worship at Southeast Christian Church. Dan has served on multiple boards. Since retiring as CEO of Baptist Health Floyd and his practice in January 2020, he is doing consulting and interim work around the country for other hospitals and healthcare organizations. He enjoys exercising, and he and Stephanie teach Christian apologetics.
Dan and Stephanie credit NAHS and FCHS for giving them an outstanding academic foundation and strong professional/personal relationships to build future successes on. Stephanie says, “Lucky for me, my teachers saw to it I received an education that never prevented my later life’s interests. I could be wrong, but this scenario probably isn’t uncommon, even today. I am confident that FCHS’s academic standards are still set high and are rigorous enough today’s students’ future dreams and goals will be within their reach, as mine were.”
When we asked them “What the best-kept secret to a happy marriage?” they responded, “to never quit wanting to take adventures together. After 37 years of marriage, the adventures may not be scuba diving or snow skiing anymore, but they might be coming alongside each other on projects that are important to one of us and therefore important to both. They also say that openness, transparency, shared faith, and shared short-term and long-term goals are key.”
Read the entire February 2021 Legacy Ledger (Issue 6).