Stephen Mendelson

Age: 52

Summary: one-time Tri Star employee who kept a positive attitude and persevered in the face of his debilitating and fatal illness whose wife Carmen Apelgren was blind due to her own battle with retinitis pigmentosa, in which the story of this courageous couple is the subject of the award-winning short film White Cane & Wheels directed by his nephew Paul Apelgren and was shown at the Detroit Film Festival as well as on the Cinemax cable channel.

Cause of Death: Muscular dystrophy

Born: September 24, 1952

Died: July 2, 2005

Location: Los Angeles, California