Louis Stefanelli

It is with a heavy heart to announce the unexpected passing of Louis Stefanelli, who left this world at his home in Safety Harbor, FL on August 12, 2021, at the age of 77 years old.
Louis was born in Brooklyn, NY on March 25, 1944, as the first of seven children, to his parents Louis, and Marian Stefanelli. Louis would tell wonderful stories of growing up in his grandmother’s tenement house where they were always surrounded by family and friends, and the excitement of being a young boy in Brooklyn. Despite always having family around, his parents would eventually decide that suburbs of long island would provide a better environment for their quickly growing family, and just as he was entering his teenage years, he would find himself in the town of Lindenhurst located on Long Island. It was there he would graduate from Lindenhurst High School, class of 1962, and join the United States Air Force one year later. Soon after joining the Air Force, Louis, or Lou as he was known later in life, would be deployed to Vietnam, where he would celebrate his 22nd birthday, while serving his country. After returning state side, and completing his obligation to the Air Force, he would enroll in Suffolk County Community College, located on Long Island, NY. It was there he would earn an Associate’s Degree, and then a Bachelors from Stony Brook University of Ney York. Lou decided he was not quite done with school, and applied for a graduate program at Arizona State University, and in January of 1974 left the wet and cold of Long Island, for the dry and hot deserts of Arizona. Lou’s life would forever be changed by this move, and while volunteering as a student teacher, he would meet a young woman named Stephanie, who he would later marry.
After graduating in 1977, Lou with his Masters Degree, and Stephanie with her Bachelors, they married and moved to Los Angeles, California where Lou would get hired on by the United States Marshals Service as a brand new, and eager deputy. With all the responsibilities of being a new deputy Lou would add to that list by having his first child, a son Daniel, and two years later, his second child, a daughter, Andrea. Lou and his new family would also find themselves moving from L.A., to Santa Barbra, and then Sacramento, as he applied for new positions and promotions withing the Marshals Service. In 1989 Lou would apply for an opening in the Tampa office, in Tampa, Florida, which he would be selected for, and that summer he moved his family across the country to start a new life in the Sunshine State. A few years after moving to Florida He and Stephanie would decide it was time to part ways and they divorced, but Lou stayed close to his children, and moved to Safety Harbor, FL. He loved and cared deeply for his children always pushing and helping them in any ways he could. Lou was also well respected by his colleagues and coworkers, and had acquired an impressive list of high-profile arrests while serving with the Marshals, and in 2001, after 23 years of dedication and devotion to the Marshals Service Lou retired from a job he loved.
After retirement Lou would enjoy spending time with his children in Florida, and his family in New York, spending many months of the year there helping his mom. Although sometimes hard on the outside, he cared deeply for his family and would always help how any way he could. As his children grew older, they both married, and his family grew bigger as he welcomed a son-in-law, and daughter-in-law, plus a grandchild. He loved being a grandpa, and his sometimes stern and no-nonsense personality would melt away when he was with him. Lou would also spend time researching and documenting his ancestors, finding out as much as he could about them to pass down to his children or anyone that was interested in knowing about their heritage. He loved to tell stories of his childhood and many adventures in the Marshals Service and could paint a picture so vivid you would think you were there with him. He was an avid coin collector, member of the United States Marshals Association, life long member of the American Legion, and life long member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Lou will be missed dearly and remembered as a good man by those who had the pleasure of knowing him.
He is predeceased by his father Louis, and his sister Dorothy, and is survived by his children Daniel and wife Kristy, Andrea and husband John, his grandchildren Leonardo, and Louis, his mother Marian, and his brothers and sisters Philip, Kathy, Patricia, Frances, and Anthony, and his many nieces and nephews.