Community remembers Stephanie Condon

ROSEBURG, Ore. -- Hundreds of people celebrated Stephanie Condon's life at the Douglas County Fairgrounds on Saturday. The 14-year-old girl disappeared in Myrtle Creek back in 1998. Her remains were found in a remote forest near glide last month.

"If Stephanie's looking down at us right now, I'm sure she's gonna say, 'What's the fuss,' " Stephanie's father, Marty Condon, told the crowd on Saturday.

The fuss was that the girl's family, friends and even complete strangers miss her. In her short life, her dad said, she made quite the impact.
    
"When Stephanie was born it was the first time I had experienced love at first sight and how could I not," said Marty. "...It was no longer about me, no longer about Christine. It was about Stephanie and that's never changed."

On such an emotional day, Marty Condon still found time to laugh.

"She also knew when something was not quite right," he said. "She was four and I got up one day and started making breakfast. Stephanie came in the kitchen. She stopped in her tracks and stared at me, 'You know how to cook like mommy?' "

He remembered the time they spent together planning Stephanie's wedding. She wanted to get married on Oct. 17, her parents' anniversary.

"The plan was to have a double wedding. Steph and Mr. Lucky Monkey getting married, and Christine and I would renew our vows," Marty Condon said.

In front of hundreds of people, Marty Condon answered exactly what all this fuss was all about. It was about Stephanie.

"Stephanie Elizabeth Condon is Douglas County's daughter," he said.