Fairhaven Memorial Park and Mortuary

A devastating stroke when she was a child limited her body and shortened her life expectancy.Knowing life was fleeting and illness and hospitals painful and stressful, she chose to live fully, traveling the world, playing sports — she served a volleyball one-handed — and volunteering with hospice patients.Now, as executive director of the Southern California Hospice Foundation in Costa Mesa, she helps people with months to live with practical needs such as groceries and utility bills, family reunions and fulfilling wishes for children and adults, such as helping them meet celebrities and athletes.That service has been honored with Fairhaven Memorial Park & Mortuary’s Oliver Halsell Care Award, which recognizes end-of-life caregivers.Wulfestieg was recovering from her second stroke, this time as an adult, when she felt her purpose as a hospice professional crystallize.“I think all of us have a life’s purpose. All of us are here for a reason,” she said. “When we find our purpose, things fall into place.”Rod Gomez, general manager of Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana, said Wulfestieg goes above and beyond. She has done great things with wish fulfillment — her office walls are lined with photos of patients with notables such as Oprah Winfrey, Selena Gomez and members of the Angels baseball team — and her values align with the cemetery’s in care during difficult times, Gomez said.“She’s exemplary,” he said.Wulfestieg, now 35 and living in Newport Beach, was a typical girl until she had her first stroke at age 11. That’s when she learned she had an arteriovenous malformation, a congenital defect that tangled blood vessels in her brain into a knot. When blood pressure gets too high, the vessels burst, causing a hemorrhagic stroke.Most malformations of that type are the size of a dime or quarter. Hers was the size of a breakfast sausage. It plunged vertically inside her brain, crossing the areas that control motor skills, vision and language.Doctors thought it was too deep to be operable. She had two radiation treatments, the first of whi... (Los Angeles Times)