Woman. Daughter. Wife. Sister. Mother. Good Samaritan Award Winner. Aspiring Healthcare Leader. Paranormal Investigator's Daughter. Patient Advocate.
Meet Our Next Feature: Stacie.
Stacie's father was sick with Colon Cancer, undiagnosed for four years before doctors discovered a football sized tumor on his colon, appendix and spine. He owned his own heating a cooling company, and had been working on a ladder on a client's AC unit. He accidentally fell, and when he hit the ground it caused his appendix to burst because of the pressure the tumor had put on his organs. For years he had been anemic and reported back pain, and yet he had never been referred by his primary for further testing even though he exhibited many signs of cancer. By the time they found the cancer, it was too late and the cancer had hit stage four. He only lived for another year before he sadly passed away. Going through this with her father made Stacie want to make sure that this never happened to any other family again. The family achieved justice, but Stacie took it a step further and wanted to devote her life to the healthcare field. She persevered and currently works at Community Medical Center in Toms River, doing exactly what she set out to do.
Stacie is originally from Philadelphia, and her family had a shore house here in Ocean Gate over on Louis Ave. Her father, Lou Gentile, owned his own HVAC business and also worked for union 322 as a HVACR mechanic. Her mom was a paralegal turned school bus driver after their children were born. At night however, they had a whole other life. Her father hosted a paranormal radio show in Philadelphia, and her mom was also a producer for the show. He was the first ever demonologist/paranormal investigator to have his own paranormal talk show called, "The Lou Gentile Show." Over the years, Lou had been featured on MTV's FEAR, FOX Family Channel's Scariest Places on Earth, The Learning Channel, The Discovery Channel, Unsolved Mysteries, and many, many more. He even was involved with the infamous Amityville House. I was very interested to see how he got involved in this so I did some research. In her father's own words in an interview from 2005 that I found online, he said,
"I’ve been researching and investigating since I was a kid. I haven’t been going into people’s homes, professionally doing it, until about ten years ago. I was doing it for people I knew at first. It all stems back from when I was a kid and my experiences, and at that time I had nobody to help me, so I had to research on my own. Over the course of many years, reading and coming up with my own theories, I started to help people out who were around me and close to me. If they were hearing things or seeing things, I would investigate it, not really getting involved with the clergy or anything back then. I was just your average ghost hunter. It progressed to getting involved with some of the local groups around here.... I lived in two haunted houses as a kid, and I was targeted by the haunting. My family thought I was nuts, and it took for my brother and sister to have their own experiences for them to go, “Wait a second here, something’s going on.” When my brother and sister started seeing and hearing different things, it gave them a different perspective, but they didn’t tell our parents because they thought they’d get ridiculed like I did. I would have visitations from things and other really bizarre and terrifying things happening."
By day, they were just parents, leading normal lives, driving school busses and repairing AC units. By night, paranormal investigators. In a way it is fitting that Stacie is now an investigator, just in a different way. Second to her father's early, possibly preventable death if he had gotten treatment sooner, there was another pivotal series of events that lead Stacie down the road to patient care. When she was ten, and her sister, Stephanie, was only 13 months old, Stephanie was attacked viciously by a dog. They were at the shore house and Stephanie had just learned to walk, and Stacie vividly remembers being on the couch with a friend when her mom told Stephanie to walk to her. Stephanie got up, blankie in hand, thumb in mouth, and as she took her steps, the dog lunged and went for her face. Instinct took over and Stacie knew she had to do something, so as quick as she could, she pulled her sister away from the dog. They rushed her to the closest hospital, which was Community Medical Center in Toms River. The hospital staff saved her sister's life and this stayed with Stacie and was a core memory. She won the Good Samaritan Award for saving Stephanie's life.
Back in Philadelphia, the family had come to a crossroads. Philadelphia became less and less ideal of a place to raise their family. The local school system was not good, and the deal breaker was when at thirteen years old, Stacie was robbed at gun point. It was at this juncture they decided to leave the city and make the shore house their permanent residence. They moved back here to Ocean Gate, and not too long after her father was diagnosed with cancer. He wanted to live out the rest of his life in a slow peaceful place, and the family moved a very rural area in Pennsylvania for the last year of his life. It wasn't an easy situation for anyone. Her dad was very ill, the kids had to adjust to different school systems several times, and her mom was driving her dad to Philadelphia for chemo and radiation on a daily basis. When she was sixteen, her father passed away. Only a few months before his passing, Darren Brown, a famous English mentalist and illusionist, flew from the UK to interview Lou for a TV show. Lou never got to see its release. After his death, their family moved back to the shore house in Ocean Gate permanently.
Stacie knows her Dad is protecting her on the other side as best that he can. She has had some experiences throughout her life that heightened her awareness of a darkness in the paranormal realm. After his death, she knew she had to take action to make sure that what happened to her family never happened again. She was on a mission. After graduating high school, she went off to study Health Administration, and graduated with High Honors. She went straight to work at Community Medical Center, where they had saved her sister's life, and started out in the transport department. This is where she met her husband, Brett, another transporter. They eventually married and had a daughter together, Presley. Currently Stacie has the position as a Community Health Care Worker, aspiring health care leader, advocating for patients. She investigates their situations to make sure that they get the care they need, especially if they do not have family to help them. She handles all complaints, recognitions, diffuses tense situations, and solves problems. She is on committees that help raise money for the hospital and ensure a positive nurturing environment for the staff of the hospital as well. She makes sure people get what they need and deserve as human beings.
Stacie loves her job and loves helping people. When she finds a resolution to problems that patients have that they never throught could be resolved, it makes her feel successful and fulfilled. That is a big portion of her job, figuring out a different approach to situations. Navigating heavy emotions from patients and their family members. She takes the job very seriously, because of what happened to her father. Currently, Stacie resides in Ocean County with her husband, Brett, and daughter, Presley. She navigates working mom life, while actively being apart of her daughter's school and extra curricular activities. She is a woman of many hats, and we are lucky to have someone like her in our community. She is a strong role model, an example of being able to change the world where it needs to be changed. Stacie's passion for healthcare truly shines, she was meant to be a light in the field, and meant to make an impact.
The Interview
What are you passionate about?
I am passionate about many things, professionally and personally. Firstly, I am passionate about the mother and wife that I am. I have always put those duties first, and no matter what I do in life this will always remain the same. I want my daughter and future children to see my sacrifices and efforts, and all I could ever want is for them to look at me as one of their biggest role models. As a wife, I am proud to say I have an amazing marriage, and I am with a man who loves, supports, and sacrifices beyond for us. Being the best mom and wife are two things that make me who I am. Professionally, I have a strong passion for leadership. I am currently in a position where I am making decisions on a daily basis that benefit my hospital and the community. Although this is a big job, when you have a passion for working in teams and with patients, I feel like you can do
anything.
What accomplishments are you proud of?
I am most proud of putting on my blinders and going back to school to finish up my degree. I graduated with Highest Honors at Rutgers University New Brunswick in May of 2024 in Health Administration, and I’m also Lean Six Sigma Certified. I was also hand selected by Senior Leadership at my hospital organization to be a part of a leadership program called ‘Future Leaders’. I am very involved in my facility and continue to have incredible opportunities.
What are the greatest challenges you have faced?
The greatest challenge I had was in August 2022 when I went back to school full-time. I worked, had wifey and mommy duties, bought a house, was on my daughter’s PTO at her school, and also did a 225 hour extensive internship with Administration at my facility. I am proud of myself because this was a true challenge. I remember it clearly, my husband and I loading the U-Haul and I had my Economics book prompted up on one of our bins going through chapters of information for an exam I had to take that evening. There was also a time I remember over a year ago while I was taking my summer course, I had a certification exam the night of my daughters 2 hour cheer practice and I was sitting in my lawn chair watching her cheer, flipping through pages and highlighting information in 90 degree weather, all while looking up at my daughter continuously shouting, “YAY PRESLEY!”. When my professor told me I did incredibly well on my exam, I remember crying happy tears because this was a moment in my life where I proved something to myself. I feel like nobody sees the ‘behind the scenes.’
Looking back on your life, what are one or two events that were monumental and changed your life?
I think a lot of my willpower, strength, and confidence I have today comes from my late father. My dad passed away in June 2009 from stage 4 Colon Cancer, and the year before he passed, he would have talks with my 2 sisters and I on his wishes for us. He wanted us to go after our dreams and always do the things we put our minds to. He wanted us to be successful in life and have families who are close. He also wanted us to forever stick to our words and beliefs and to not back down if we feel strongly about something. I believe having this mindset has since then changed my life, and this just shows that words can truly have an impact.
What does the word feminism mean to you?
Feminism to me means fearless in the words we say and the actions we take. It is important to teach our children to be strong willed and to stand up for themselves. I believe this generation is raising strong daughters, because I know I am!
Who has been the most influential woman in your life?
The most influential woman in my life has got to be my mother. If there is a woman who doesn’t back down it is surely Antoinette! Growing up, my mom has always been everyone’s favorite. There’s so many people who look up to her and take her advice and honesty. She is a great mom, grandparent, and friend.
What do you wish you knew when you were younger?
I wish I knew that I would be rich. But not money wise, but with a family who loves me, beautiful and smart daughter, loving and handsome husband, secure job, roof over my head, and plenty of love and celebrations to go round.
What message do you want to send the next generation of women?
When we are young, we think our current situation will be forever; but that is very far from the truth. I want this generation and future generations of parents to remind our children that there’s so much more to life than what they see now. Because life is beautiful and it’s exactly what you make of it.
Why is Women’s History Month important to you?
Women’s History Month is important to me because we are the future. It’s important to understand where we came from and what we are doing to make the future even brighter for ourselves and children.
How can women empower themselves and others?
Women can empower others by supporting one another, and we can empower ourselves by self love. I feel like loving ourselves can be a struggle, but once you love yourself you have the power to love those around you.
Thank You For Reading!
This interview was so interesting for me to conduct and I hope you felt inspired by Stacie too! I love seeing a strong powerful woman BE the CHANGE. What a wild ride life is. Stay tuned for our next feature! I am also attaching a link to the interview I read with Stacie's dad, Lou, if anyone is interested to read a little further!
https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/3347/gentile-lou-amityville-and-beyond/
