Kids & Family

Rockville Peace Poet's Legacy Endures at King Farm

Author and peace activist Jeni Stepanek, mother of the late Mattie Stepanek, names Ingleside at King Farm a 'Peace Community.'

Before he left this earth, Mattie Stepanek, 13, befriended the world’s most influential philosophers and opinion leaders.

And since his death in 2004, his mother, Jeni Stepanek, has been continuing his legacy by spreading his message of kindness and peace—and others are joining in the effort.

On Tuesday, Stepanek was at Ingleside at King Farm at a ceremony certifying the retirement community as a Peace Community.

Find out what's happening in Rockvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Mattie believed that peace is possible because like hope, peace begins with a choice,” Stepanek said. “It begins with our choice.”

As a certified Peace Community, Ingleside at King Farm is essentially vowing to take direction from Stepanek’s belief in peace, that individuals and groups should be peace seekers, peace makers and peace bringers at all times.

Find out what's happening in Rockvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The retirement community’s first action as a certified peace community will be to host a community picnic in August, Ingleside chaplain Richard Thayer said.

Ingleside is the first large organization of adults to attain the certification, a process that can take a few months to a year. Stepanek said 15 families and organizations—mostly school-age children—have either obtained a certification or are in the process of doing so since the Mattie J.T. Stepanek Foundation started offering it a year ago.

“It’s only fitting,” Jeni Stepanek said. “Mattie lived right here at King Farm.”

Ingleside residents Bob and Laurin Balkam inspired Ingleside to attain the certification. They were the Stepanek family’s neighbors in King Farm more than 10 years ago.

Bob Balkam said he knew Mattie Stepanek during the last two years of his life.

“[Mattie] was the most awesome person I have ever known,” Balkam said after the certification ceremony. “He had a tremendous sense of humor.”

Balkam’s efforts led to the opening of Mattie J. T. Stepanek Park in King Farm in 2008.

Mattie Stepanek was the youngest of four children. But sadly, they all shared the same fate: They died before the age 14 from a rare neuromuscular disease that Jeni Stepanek unknowingly passed to her kids before she was diagnosed.

But in his short life, Mattie wrote seven books of poetry, expressions that conveyed what his mother described as his “heartsong.”

“Mattie's talent was shaping words,” Jeni Stepanek said. “His need, what mattered most to him—his heartsong—was hope and peace.”

Mattie’s “heartsong” would go on to inspire many.

Oprah Winfrey described him as a “big soul in a little boy’s body” and said his advice influenced her to run The Oprah Show for 25 years, according to her website.

One of his books was published posthumously, Just Peace: A Message of Hope. Edited by his mother, the book is a compilation of Mattie Stepanek’s correspondences with former President Jimmy Carter, who described the boy as “the most remarkable person” he’s ever known.  

Carter spoke at Mattie’s funeral, Bob Balkam recalled. After his death, Balkam recalled reading that Carter’s aspirations at the time were “to live up to Mattie’s expectations.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here