1970

scmintern@scu.edu

Steven Charles Sziebert ’70 was born in Nemetboly, Hungary, on Sept. 3, 1949, and started school in Hungary—his mother put August 34 on his school record so he could start first grade early. Steve was 7 during the Hungarian Revolution. He escaped Hungary with his family by walking across the border into Yugoslavia. They became refugees in Yugoslavia and later Austria. The family immigrated to the United States in 1957 and settled in California—first in Los Angeles and later in Saratoga. Steve continued to skip grades in school, attending high school at Woodside Priory for Boys in 1960. They had to special order a uniform for him as he didn’t fit the smallest size. He graduated high school at 16 and attended SCU, majoring in business law. He was in ROTC during the Vietnam era in California, which added much excitement to his life. Upon graduation, he entered the Army and became an airborne ranger. He spent five years with the Army engineers stationed at Fort Lewis and Camp Pelham, Korea. While Steve was at Fort Lewis he met his future wife, Marcia Stephenson. “There she was minding her own business,” shooting pool at the Officer’s Club. He was smitten. Steve and Marcia were inseparable from then on. They moved to Yakima, Washington, because Steve wanted to live near family. He fell in love with the Yakima Valley and his Stephenson in-laws. It was here in Yakima that Steve came to realize his other love was construction. He loved projects and building stuff, spending 20 years as a construction superintendent for Superior Asphalt and Paving Company. In 1998, Steve went to work for Huibregtse, Louman and Associates, which is now HLA Engineering and Survey, as a construction engineer and contract manager. He was still building roads, parking lots, water treatment plants, bridges, and so on until he got sick in 2017. On Jan. 9, 2017, Steve was diagnosed with AML. He and his family spent the next year learning about the medical world. After getting into remission, he and Marcia moved to Seattle for four months so he could have a stem cell transplant. All the way through his treatment, Steve made his own deliberate choices. He was willing to do whatever it took to be at his son’s wedding in October. He made it. Steve has always been a very unforgettable person. He was a great lover of people and was brought to tears by stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary and hard things. He was always there if you needed help and could troubleshoot any situation, often thinking outside the box. Steve loved music and stories. He could take a good story and make it longer. You had to listen to the whole thing because there was always a connecting point. Above all, Steve was a good man, a good friend, a faithful and devoted husband, the best father, and many other bests. His goal was to leave the world a little better and his faith in Jesus Christ was complete. On Jan. 9, 2018, he was re-diagnosed with the cancer and passed away at home on Feb. 23, 2018. He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Marcia, and their children Elizabeth White (Stephen), Clara Short (Corey), Stephen Charles Sziebert (Olivia), William Sziebert (Emily), Rosanne Brauner (Isaac), Mary Harris (Jeff), and Francis Sziebert (Annie). He is also survived by 13 grandchildren, George and Ezra White, Nora, Ansen, Ira and Elena Short, Lily, Aiden and Kyle Sziebert, Maximilian Sziebert, Adele, Charlotte and Miles Brauner, brothers, Imre Sziebert and Leslie Sziebert, and sister, Elizabeth Newton. Steve was preceded in death by his parents, Stephen and Nora Sziebert, and his eldest sister, Maria Coyle.

08 Nov 2018