Jeffrey Bethel

Mike,

Thanks for posting and well said. I have been wanting to share my thoughts about Steve but I have been putting it off because everytime I think about him and try to put into words my feelings for him I get too upset (as is the case right now). The following is a letter that I wrote to Steve's kids which reflect my thoughts on what a wonderful person he was to all of us that knew him.

Dear Hailey and Logan,

Some of my best childhood and adult memories are of the times that I spent with your dad. I think we were in 2^nd or 3^rd grade when we first met at O’Neill Elementary School. As kids we shot BB guns down by the railroad tracks and rode skateboards all over Mission Viejo. As young teenagers we hung out at the Dean Club on “Teen Night” and in High School we went to the beach and played on the soccer team together.  

One of my fondest memories and experiences with your dad occurred the summer after our sophomore year of high school. Luckily for me, your dad and grandparents invited me along for a two week vacation to Lake Tahoe. For the first week of the trip, your grandparents let us camp by ourselves at a camp ground near Fallen Leaf Lake. What an incredible week!  We camped on our own, hiked, fished (though I don’t recall catching much), caught lizards, played horseshoes and listened to music. It was at this time that your dad introduced me to some of the best musicians of all time, David Bowie and Led Zeppelin. I think we wore out the cassette tape of David Bowie’s Greatest Hits (if you don’t know what a cassette tape is, ask your grandpa) and to this day, I am pretty sure I can recite the words to every song.

As young adults your dad, Billy Christie, Joe Schulte, Mike Hoffman and I fished and camped along the Kern River and recently, as “older men” our same group got together for some incredible times in New Mexico fishing the San Juan River. In all of our experiences, your dad helped us to appreciate the outdoors and the importance of spending time with good friends.

Your dad was quite a character. He would constantly crack us up with funny sayings or references from our childhood. In addition to your dad being a super funny guy, one of the greatest things about your dad was his sincerity and compassion for others. It is hard to describe, but some people just make you feel special when you talk to them and your dad was one of them. He was the type of person who genuinely cared about other people. You could just feel it when you spoke with him. This for me and I think for a lot of people is what drew us to him.

Through the years, your dad was a wonderful and very important presence in my life and so many others. He was an incredible friend to all of us in our O’Neill Elementary school group and even though he lived far away in Hawaii, when he came to the mainland, his friendship and great personality were the motivating factors in getting all of us together.

Please call me if you ever want to talk about your dad.