Stephen Stephanhoff
West Peorian Stephen Stephanhoff, a 1941 Manual graduate, was a Bradley University sophomore in 1943 when he was drafted and sent to boot camp at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Chicago, Illinois.
After boot camp Stephen was sent to Banning, California, where the Navy trained him as a baker, taking advantage of the knowledge and experience he had gained from his father who was a baker. The elder Stephanhoff had leased the Baker Systems Bakery at 1400 S. Adams Street and later bought the bakery and changed the name to Stephanoff's Bakery.
After completing his training in Banning, California, where he was stationed for about a year, he served a second tour of duty as a baker for another year at San Clements Island. While there he played shortstop for the Navy baseball team.
This baseball experience gave Stephen the encouragement to leave the Navy in 1945 (with "points") to take his chances at a new career as a result of his acceptance to the St. Louis Cardinal's Farm Team. Even though he did not make the team, he still considers the experience one of the highlights of his life and remains an ardent Cardinal fan.
He then re-enlisted with the Navy. His third assignment was in San Francisco on his first ship-the USS Randolph CV15 (named after Peyton Randolph, the first President of the Continental Congress).
Having endured a "kamikaze" hit, the USS Randolph was in dry-dock when Stephen went on board. For the next two years, Stephen once again served the Navy as a baker and played on the ship's baseball team.
Stephen's fourth assignment was on the USS Larson DDR830 (named after Everett F. Parkson, Pvt 1st class, killed on Guadalcanal). After two more years as a baker, Stephen developed a skin rash probably from being exposed to so much yeast and, therefore, could no longer serve in the baking unit.
Stephen was then sent to Electronic Tech School at Navy Pier, where he graduated first in his class. This training led to his service on the USS Greene DDR711 (named after Eugene A. Greene, a Navy officer who served at the Battle of Midway) as an E.T. (Electronics Tech), specializing in radar and sonar.
He spent a short sixth assignment on the USS Boxer CV21 (named after a British ship captured in the War of 1812).
Serving on his fifth and last ship-the USS Badoeng Strait CVE116 at Newport, Rhode Island-Stephen participated in the ship's mission called Operation Redwing, whose purpose was to conduct a series of tests of atomic weapons and devices at a location about 22 miles off shore between the island Einwetoc and Bikine.
In the early morning all the crew would be on deck-the officers wearing special glasses and the crew kneeling face down as the weapons were fired off. The ship would follow the mushroom cloud so that the fall-out would fall on the ship. A Geiger Counter and special wash were used to measure the amount of gamma and alpha that had fallen on the ship.
During his naval career, Stephen traveled to many countries. Once he and the others in his crew had a personal audience with Pope Pius XII His ship's baseball team introduced baseball to a crowd of several thousand at Plymouth, England.
In 1956 Stephen received an honorable discharge that ended his career in the navy and returned to Peoria with his family. He first worked at Dodd's Bakery, then for the quality control division at Caterpillar, and later at the Post Office from which he retired in 1981 at which time he took up a new sport, tennis, and became an instructor. Stephen has lived in West Peoria on Barker since 1975.