He inspired

Steve was always one of those guys who had a natural ability, or knack, of inspiring those of us around him. During ninth grade basketball practices, I'll never forget how good he was at bench jumping....(all that skiing he did).....and how much I hated it......I think Herm truly loved watching him jump because he did it with such ease that I'm sure we had to do way more than we should have simply because of how easy he made it look......and how much it kicked the rest of our sorry butts just trying to keep up with him. He made us better. In high school.....he was the first to wear the "straight leg" 501's and the faux lamb skin lined levi jacket.......we soon followed. I always felt confident when number 43 was on the field in defensive backfield.....he sacrificed himself out on the field and kept the whole team going.

Many years passed since those days and it was great to reconnect and come down and spend time with him and his incredible family. It's too bad it had to take something such as his battle to bring us back in touch. But, that trip is a testimate to what type of friend he was and what kind of person he was. I'm pretty sure I can speak for the 10 others that made the trip to see him that it had a tremendous impact on each one of us. Again, he inspired and lead. I'll never forget the first sight of him walking into the conference room and seeing all of us middle age soft bodies sitting around in awe.....not really quite knowing what to expect. I know I was expecting to, and was prepared to let the big tears flow, but again, he gave it the proverbial "holy crap" and put us all at ease......again, he inspired.

Memory from Steve Rector (high school friend).