Steve Churchill died on June 14th from brain cancer at age 66. He was the rock of his family and friends and leaves a legacy of laughter and wisdom behind. He always greeted life as an adventure. He is survived by his wife, Cathy, his daughters; Chris and Deb, his son, Mike, and seven grandchildren.
Born in San Jose and raised in Hollister, California, he grew up as a rancher. After high school, college scholarships brought him to UC Berkeley where he graduated in Engineering in 1962. He continued some higher education before beginning a partnership in Hickman Engineering for 10 years. In 1974, he joined Bechtel in the Mining and Metals Division and soon completed his MBA. A Bechtel gold project, in 1976, took him and his family to South Africa for two years. Then as a Start-up Engineer, he was sent to projects in Korea, Nevada, Colorado, New Guinea, Chile and New York. As a Project Manager, he headed up two gold mine operations; one in Chile, and another in Australia. In 1999, Steve retired from Bechtel and went to work for his son-in-law at Luster National.
In 2001 he and his wife, Cathy, moved from Lafayette to Graeagle to enjoy golfing, hiking, fishing and the beautiful mountains. Cal Football would bring him down to the Bay Area to attend their games in the Fall. Winter would find him and his wife traveling to the desert, Hawaii, and New Zealand.
Everyone that met Steve admired his generosity, honesty and love of life. He will be greatly missed.
His family has asked that any donations on his behalf be sent to:
UCSF Oncology
C/O Nicholas Butowski, M.D.
Neuro Oncology Clinical Services
400 Parnassus Ave., Room A-808
San Francisco, CA 94143.0372
