I’m just about set to retire; I’m probably the last of our group to hang up my copy of the TPR. But after 30+ years at ODOT and Deschutes County, it’s time. I’m sure you’d have a classic Kale quip. Take care, amigo.
A Celebration of Life get together for Steve was held January 3, 2014 in Salem, Oregon.
Tributes
Leave a tributeI’m just about set to retire; I’m probably the last of our group to hang up my copy of the TPR. But after 30+ years at ODOT and Deschutes County, it’s time. I’m sure you’d have a classic Kale quip. Take care, amigo.
Steve visited twice here in Oulu, Northern Finland. Jarmo took him fishing in his Pike Hill “farm”, a roadless and abandoned but still habitable place in the middle of wild nature. Jarmo took Steve also to a tour to Finnish Lapland, Northern Norway and Sweden. Steve helped us several times with our papers, commented our presentations and told us a lot on the academic world of US.
Last time we all three met together was in Dubrovnik, Croatia in the August of 2012. In the April of 2013 Steve hosted Toivo for two days with his car in Joshua Tree National Park, prior to the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers in LA. Sometimes we phoned each other. Jarmo had a chat with Steve via Skype only two weeks before his passing. They agreed to be in touch again in a month.
Steve invited us many times to visit his home, but now it will never happen. In the coming years we'll have to settle for all the good memories on the times we spent together. We have lost a friend.
Toivo Muilu and Jarmo Rusanen
Oulu, Finland
John Vial hit the nail on the head: Steve was a gifted teacher who showed an unusual caring for his students and I felt like he cared about me as person, not just as another student.
The man is all that we can ever ask for in a friend and a mentor. The holidays will not be the same without Steve's letter and familiar wave.
Leave a Tribute
I’m just about set to retire; I’m probably the last of our group to hang up my copy of the TPR. But after 30+ years at ODOT and Deschutes County, it’s time. I’m sure you’d have a classic Kale quip. Take care, amigo.
Co-Worker and Friend
I got the opportunity to work with Steve after a reorganization at the Oregon Department of Transportation formed a unit to work on the long range plans. Before that he worked in the Environmental Section doing economic analyses for environmental studies. One major report that he worked on was the Bend Parkway.
Steve was highly self-motivated and only needed a manager to support him and clear the way for him to do great work. He helped with many of the plans, but quickly became the freight expert for the agency. He was a natural leader and helped educate others with gentle prodding, testing theories, and making suggestions.
Steve was humble; he wrote the first major freight study for the agency, Freight Moves the Oregon Economy. This study provided a great deal of information about the tie between the movement of freight and the importance of freight to the state and the link to the national and even the international economy. The document provided an agenda of actions that could be pursued by the agency or others in the state to raise awareness of freight issues. In the printed version he didn’t give himself credit, he simply listed himself as the contact.
He was instrumental in the formation of a freight advisory committee. It began as an informal committee and the freight community took it to the Legislature and it was formalized as the Freight Advisory Committee. Steve worked tirelessly with freight leaders in Oregon and the leadership within the Agency to craft an agenda.
He became a friend to me and to my family. He was always a kind and thoughtful friend that I will miss dearly.
Close Colleague
Steve fast became a close colleague of mine shortly after I came to Nebraska in 1971. He and I were graduate students in the Geography Department at UNL, roommates one summer, and later co-workers in the Nebraska Department of Economic Development. And he continued to be a great friend afterward, visiting us now and then after he moved to Oregon. I now think back to trips I took with Steve in the 1970's, being members of a bowling team together, collaborating on some work projects, and discussing almost all things imaginable with him on beers after work. Those were great days for me, and having Steve as one of my most valued friends was one of the reason why.