Tim Stirneman DDS

Dr. Tim Stirneman was born in Louisville, Kentucky, has lived in Indiana while in elementary school and in Omaha, Nebraska where he attended Creighton University for both his undergraduate degree in Mathematics as well as his Dental degree. But is was the time he spent in the northwest suburbs of Chicago graduating from Wheeling High School that solidified his love for the great city of Chicago. It was that sense of belonging that brought him home to Algonquin, IL after graduating from dental school where he raised three great children, Kenny, Katie, and Kurtis.

Kenny now works for New York Life Insurance, while his daughter Katie lives in Colorado and is both a nanny and a director of marketing for a mobile dental service. Kurtis, who was fortunate enough to earn a football scholarship to the University of Wyoming, now helps scout and recruit future college football players.

Dr. Tim's dental practice, Compassionate Dental Care, is living proof of his lifelong dedication to making a difference in people’s lives, especially his young patients. He became a dentist because he wanted to change how people, especially kids, thought of the dentist. Teaching adults and kids about their teeth and helping them smile everyday is one of Dr. Tim’s true passions.

It was out of this passion that Dr. Tim more than twenty years ago first wrote a children’s play called "The Wizard of Teeth" based on his favorite movie, "The Wizard of Oz." Every year since he first wrote the play Dr. Tim and his friends travel to elementary schools to perform this play to thousands of kids! They laugh, have fun, and learn about their teeth and how awesome going to the dentist can be! This play sparked the idea for the Mya Papaya book series.

Dr. Tim is a also a big Chicago sports fan and has enjoyed taking his kids to Bulls, Bears, and Cubs games over the years. Currently he only has time for the Cubs which is okay with him considering he got to witness firsthand their first World Series Championship in over 100 years! Readers will find many references to Chicago sports teams interspersed throughout their books as he and his writing partner Jim Wojdyla share a common love for all things Chicago.

Dr. Tim also has an extensive collection of bobbleheads that he displays in his office. Not only does he have a bunch of Chicago Bulls, Cubs, and Bears players, but his employees even got him a bobblehead of himself for bosses day!

Another one of his hobbies is to go to concerts, shows, and especially movies! There aren't too many movies out that Dr. Tim hasn't seen and he loves talking about them. In fact, it was at a concert where Mr. Jim was the lead singer that the two unlikely co-authors would first meet more than a decade ago. Dr. Tim and Mr. Jim would come to learn that each of them had a shared love for making a difference in their “audience’s” lives. They hope that through their combined effort in the “Mya Papaya” book series that many young children will venture out and try new things with less fear and will experience more joy in the process.