Staff Report

ROCKFORD – One of Rockford’s top swimmers of the 1990s is helping a leading U.S. company make better lawnmowers.

Stephanie Homewood Boozer, a 1996 graduate of Guilford High School, is manager of program development for riding lawn equipment at John Deere in Cary, North Carolina.

At Guilford, Boozer was one of the top freestylers in conference history. She won seven individual conference titles, the 50 free style in 1994, the 100 freestyle all four years in high school and the 200 freestyle in 1994 and 1995. She also swam legs on six conference champion relay teams.

She capped it off by finishing third in the 100 freestyle at the 1995 IHSA state swim meet.

The outstanding swimming career earned her a scholarship to the University of Iowa where she was co-captain of the Hawkeyes swim team on 1999 and 2000.

Stephanie earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering in 2000 and then earned an MBA from Marquette University in 2002.

Stephanie began working for John Deere in 2001 as a design engineer. She’s advanced to where she now helps set strategic direction for Deere’s entire portfolio of riding lawn equipment. She manages a team of five who are responsible for tactical program management and coordinating product development programs.