Obituary of Ingrid Sebastiano

Ingrid Ann Sebastiano

Ingrid Ann Sebastiano of Dobbs Ferry, New York died on Saturday, November 2, 2024 at the age of 38. Beloved wife of Douglas Sebastiano, devoted mother of Grayson Sebastiano, beloved daughter of Donald and Deana Kirsch, beloved daughter-in-law of John and Jan Sebastiano, loving aunt to Ada and Jack, beloved sister-in-law of Chris, Cathy and Jen. 

Ingrid was born and raised in Princeton, NJ. After growing up in a small college town, she wanted to attend a large university in a big city. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in art history, a field she was passionate about in her younger years. She loved living in Pittsburgh and stayed on to earn a master’s degree in Health Information Systems, graduating in 2009. This led Ingrid to catch the first wave of technology transformation in American healthcare, deploying electronic medical record solutions within our hospital systems.

Prior to the advent of electronic medical records, doctors took notes on slips of paper and consulted stuffed manilla folders filled with paper records. The first, primitive electronic medical records appeared in the 1960s and 1970s. These primitive electronic medical records were turned into the systems we now recognize when, starting in 2004, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology was established, outlining a plan to ensure that most Americans had electronic health records within the next ten years. Ingrid Sebastiano was one of the first Hospital Information Specialists to put such systems into operation.

Ingrid always loved the “Big Apple” and living there was a dream. After receiving her master’s degree, she moved to Manhattan and took a position at New York Presbyterian Hospital in their hospital information systems group, where she worked for her entire professional career. Ingrid’s passion for her work continued to grow throughout her career – not to achieve a status or title, but rather the importance and impact of her work, which included ambulatory and telemedicine care services. But even more importantly, while living in Manhattan she met the love of her life, Douglas Sebastiano. After a wonderful courtship, they were engaged in Switzerland and later married in 2016 in the charming old New York cobblestone section of Tribecca.

But after just one year of marriage, at the age of 31, Ingrid received the devastating diagnosis of breast cancer. She was able to enter into remission after a series of aggressive treatments at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which she endured with courage, dignity and grace. Despite the many hardships Ingrid and Doug faced during this time, these were good years. Ingrid and Doug traveled and enjoyed life, appreciating every day in a far more profound way than ever before. Although the cancer treatments rendered her unable to have children, Ingrid bravely underwent egg harvesting prior to starting chemotherapy and through the miracle of in vitro fertilization and the assistance of a generous and kind surrogate in Wisconsin, Ingrid and Doug were able to have a wonderful little boy named Grayson. 

At the height of the COVID-19 epidemic Ingrid and Doug made a harrowing journey from New York to Wisconsin for the birth of their child and with much determination, brought the infant back home safe and sound after a lengthy road trip that would not soon be forgotten. They began their life as new parents in their Dobbs Ferry home filled with laughter and love, for two more peaceful years. But her cancer reoccurred five years after initial diagnosis and she courageously fought the disease for two more years after. Even during these most difficult years Ingrid remained steadfast and courageous, fighting every day for the time she had with her family that she cared so deeply about.

Ingrid was an avid reader, preferring memoirs, biographies, and literary fiction and always had a book or a tablet readily at hand in case a few free moments arrived. She was half way through “Best Friends Forever” by Jennifer Weiner on the day she died. She was also an enthusiastic world traveler, studied abroad in Florence, Italy when she was a college junior and vacationed in Europe, South America, and the Middle East. She travelled together with Doug to Ireland, Scotland, Switzerland, Italy, California, and enjoyed many cruises. She had very close friendships, many of which she maintained for over thirty
years. Ingrid was a great lover of life, a compassionate and empathetic person, an incredible mother, an amazing wife, a beautiful daughter and a kind soul.

The family kindly requests donations in Ingrid's honor to Memorial Sloan Kettering.
Please use the link below to be directed to Ingrid's Tribute Page.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Online Donation

Nevertheless, she persisted.