ForeverMissed
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This memorial website was created in memory of our loved one, Steven Al-Rawi, 56, born on May 31, 1958 and passed away on June 10, 2014. We will remember him forever. In lieu of flowers, please make donation "In memory of Steve Alrawi" to the Wikimedia foundation:  Please mail your donations to:

Caitlin Virtue
Wikimedia Foundation    
1
49 New Montgomery Street, 6th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
www.wikimediafoundation.org


May 23, 2020
May 23, 2020
I met Steve at Ridge Project as freshman. We were both math and physics guys. He, I and Greg Porter hung out together. Steve mastered the art of flicking a bottle cap 50 feet. Later, Steve linked up with another of my roommate, Paul Cando. Steve would only hang out with genuine people. Phonies were not welcome.

Steve was very intelligent. However, his cynical wit stand out above
everything else. Steve hated stupid rules and stupid decision makers
and he was adept at just the right level of mockery to point out these flaws.

After graduating from Berkeley, Steve went home and took over his fathers electronics company. My memory is that they build extra large capacitors.
Steve got two patents! https://patents.justia.com/inventor/steve-b-al-rawi
Unfortunately, the company ceased to make money and was liquidated.

Eventually, Steve went back to UC Berkeley to pursue graduate work in mathematics. He became an avid runner. Steve used to be a hang glider.
Sad that it was running that did him in. I know he is glad that it was swift.
Steve would have never wanted to be a burden.

Steve: I miss you.

Kurt
June 10, 2015
June 10, 2015
Very often when I see a runner from behind who has the same build and head hair as Steve I am reminded of him. Its still very sad to think of his passing at such a young age.
August 26, 2014
August 26, 2014
I ran with Steven on Tuesdays in Tilden with BRC and Sundays with RATS. He was very fast for his age, faster than me, and could never understand why I couldn't simply run faster. :) Nonetheless he would wait for me, especially after dark in the winter, or after there had been wild animal (mountain lion) sightings. He really was a nice guy with a great quirky sense of humor. I asked him his nationality once and he said his former Jewish girlfriend said he was the worst combination possible: half Arab and half German. Typical Steve, he actually was very loving. He was also brilliant, and great to talk with while running. I truly miss him.
August 25, 2014
August 25, 2014
Steve was a fixture for several years on the Tuesday evening trail runs here in Berkeley. He always showed up with a can-do attitude and we had many animated discussions on all sorts of things, particularly technology and electronics.

Steve once told me "This weekly run is what is keeping me alive." That resonated with all of us, as it very much embodied how many of us feel about our passion. Steve is missed.
August 25, 2014
August 25, 2014
I knew Steve through running with the Berkeley Run Club and Albany’s RATS. Steve was a good guy to run with. We ran a similar pace, so we spent quite a bit of time side by side. Steve was one of the most self-deprecating runners I’ve known. So many times he’d say the pace was a bit much, how out of shape he was, but looking over my should he be no more than a few paces back, chugging along. Always a smile on his face, excited to see any of us with whom he shared hundreds of hours on the trails. I’m glad I was able to share so many happy mornings and evenings with him. He’s sorely missed.
August 13, 2014
August 13, 2014
Steven was very encouraging of new runners at RATS. He didn't speak much, but when he did he always offered tips and suggestions from his own experience. This should Steven was a man a kind man who wanted to share thoughtful kindness to those who needed it. I hope is in a better place.
August 5, 2014
August 5, 2014
I met Steve on my first day at Cal in September, 1977 at the Ridge Project COOP housing. We shared many a beer and fun times together. Parties, Cal football games (roll’em up!), beer drinking and studying was our way of life back then. I'm still in shock that he's gone. He was nice, easy going, very generous, extremely intelligent and a little eccentric. Most of all he was a great friend and I owe my survival at Cal to him. Being a bonehead partying JC transfer I needed help with my Engineering studies. He helped me get through it. I was amazed how well he knew the material but never studied it. He was a biophysics major and almost got his Phd in Applied Math. Not bad for a guy who never finished high school. He just took a couple tests and Cal let him in. That’s how smart he was. After Cal, we both moved on with jobs/careers and lived far apart. But, we kept in touch off and on over the past 30+ years and got together when we could on ski trips with my family. Steve was also my best man in my 2nd wedding in 1996. He flew all the way to Veracruz Mexico to be there. A great friend he was. We (me, my wife Carmela and daughter Natalie) will really miss him. With deepest sympathies to Steve’s family.   Sincerely; Greg Porter
August 3, 2014
August 3, 2014
Hi, realy sory for that. I tried to find my relatives all the time i was in Europe.
Please if any one any thing about his brothers ( Tony and Lance ) can send this massage foreword. Im his cousin Nabeel Khaleel Alrawi. nabeel@online.no

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Recent Tributes
May 23, 2020
May 23, 2020
I met Steve at Ridge Project as freshman. We were both math and physics guys. He, I and Greg Porter hung out together. Steve mastered the art of flicking a bottle cap 50 feet. Later, Steve linked up with another of my roommate, Paul Cando. Steve would only hang out with genuine people. Phonies were not welcome.

Steve was very intelligent. However, his cynical wit stand out above
everything else. Steve hated stupid rules and stupid decision makers
and he was adept at just the right level of mockery to point out these flaws.

After graduating from Berkeley, Steve went home and took over his fathers electronics company. My memory is that they build extra large capacitors.
Steve got two patents! https://patents.justia.com/inventor/steve-b-al-rawi
Unfortunately, the company ceased to make money and was liquidated.

Eventually, Steve went back to UC Berkeley to pursue graduate work in mathematics. He became an avid runner. Steve used to be a hang glider.
Sad that it was running that did him in. I know he is glad that it was swift.
Steve would have never wanted to be a burden.

Steve: I miss you.

Kurt
June 10, 2015
June 10, 2015
Very often when I see a runner from behind who has the same build and head hair as Steve I am reminded of him. Its still very sad to think of his passing at such a young age.
August 26, 2014
August 26, 2014
I ran with Steven on Tuesdays in Tilden with BRC and Sundays with RATS. He was very fast for his age, faster than me, and could never understand why I couldn't simply run faster. :) Nonetheless he would wait for me, especially after dark in the winter, or after there had been wild animal (mountain lion) sightings. He really was a nice guy with a great quirky sense of humor. I asked him his nationality once and he said his former Jewish girlfriend said he was the worst combination possible: half Arab and half German. Typical Steve, he actually was very loving. He was also brilliant, and great to talk with while running. I truly miss him.
Recent stories

High School Friend

November 16, 2015

I remember Steven from La Habra High. I could relate to Steven, as I was also an excellent student with a sarcastic sense of humor. I lost track of Steven after he left high school, but I have a fond memory of him that has unfortunately dimmed with the passing of time. May he rest in Peace.

The Royal Society of Quincy

August 23, 2014

I knew Steve from work, Beckman Industrial, but not really.  It was only years after Steve left BI that we found ourselves aligned by a common interest, an annual gathering of friends in Quincy, Plumas County CA.

LeRoy and Jan are our hosts for this get together.  LeRoy, because of his life long love of Physics and in reference to the Royal Society of London, dubbed our meetings as The Royal Society of Quincy.  Steve had a deep regard for LeRoy (as do I).

True to form, each year we hold our obligatory science meeting session to discuss our “papers” and findings.  Only LeRoy’s presentations were serious.  The rest are playful mockeries of topics ranging from time travel to tomato gardening. 

Most of our time is spent hiking, fishing, playing dominos, roasting marshmallows (peepers), and generally discussing the ways of the world in an idyllic setting of woods and friends.

Steve only started attending our get-togethers in recent years, but he was an instant part of the family. Steve routinely arrived with beer and food for the gang.  Steve enjoyed the fishing (but not harming the fish). He had a natural connection with the kids  (LeRoy and Jan’s grandchildren). And Steve was the first to join whenever a hike was suggested.   My friendship and regard for Steve grew out of these times together.

 

The Royal Society of Quincy will dearly miss Steve.

Running In Albany, CA

August 12, 2014

Steve is a dedicated and inspiring runner. As you can see in our photos, he is surrounded by all of his friends who learned from his expereince. He is the master of the long run, and taught us fellow runners how to pace steady. Every Sunday morning, rain or shine, he joined us for our club runs. Dedicated, consistent, inspiring, smiling! -Eleanore

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