Gaye Stephenson O’Callahan

Gaye Stephenson O’Callahan (June 6, 1947 – May 28, 2024) passed away on the evening of May 28th after a two year fight with brain cancer.
Gaye was born in Los Angeles, California, the first child of Willam Hughes Stephenson and Phyllis Vera Gay Stephenson. The family, now 4 children, moved to Santa Barbara when Gaye was seven. She attended Hope School, La Colina Jr. High and San Marcos High School where she had many fond memories, being involved in many activities while there.

After attending San Marcos High School, she went to Stephen’s College in Missouri for one year, then returned to Santa Barbara to earn her BA in anthropology at Santa Barbara City College and UCSB. She was a flight attendant for Hughes Air West for several years, based in Phoenix, where she met and married her husband, Jerry. They had two boys, Kevin (Napa) and Shawn (Superior, CO) living in several locations – Tempe, Glendale, CA and Spokane. They divorced and Gaye returned to Santa Barbara to raise the boys. She worked almost 30 years as a loan processor with Paragon Mortgage. And to the delight of her high school classmates, she helped organize the database of information on the where abouts of them as well as helped organize the reunions. While she loved to play bridge – participating in 3 bridge groups – as well as doing jigsaw puzzles, reading and traveling, her greatest source of pleasure was the natural world around her. Her love of nature began in her youth when her family would take week long hikes in Yosemite during the summers. She more recently completed this loop hike with Kevin.

With our hearts saddened, she leaves behind two sons, Kevin (Gina) and Shawn, and 3 grandchildren (Bailey, Keira and Eva) as well as her 3 siblings Andy (Cindy), Lynne (Bob) and Jim (Cathy). In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in Gaye’s memory to the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens. A memorial service will be held at a later time. For more information feel free to reach out to the family.