Steve has passed away peacefully and will be greatly missed by his family and friends, especially his son Gerrad (Angela); granddaughter, Caitlyn; wife, Sarah; dad, Bill; sister, Donna; brothers, Mike and Tom; Auntie Bernice and families. He was predeceased by his mother Louise (nee Alexander).
A memorial gathering to celebrate Steve’s life will be held at St. John The Baptist Heritage Church, 537 Glencairn Lane, Colwood, BC on March 29, 2014 at 1:00 pm. Condolences may be made to the family at www.carefuneral.com
Steve attended Doncaster Elementary and Mt.View High School (where he made the majority of his friends, some of whom he has remained in touch with, especially Ward who was his best lifelong friend) before graduating from Victoria High School (of which he was very proud). After graduating he thought he would like to travel to Australia but he made the decision to go to Camosun College to obtain his Practical Nursing/Orderly licence. He then worked at the original Victoria General Hospital before transferring to the Gorge Rd. Hospital where he worked in Rehabilitation on the first floor. Due to all the lifting as a nurse and then a couple of accidents, he began to have some back problems and made the choice to change careers. He went and took out his class one licence to drive semi trucks and ended up driving limousines and passenger vans. He worked for Maki Island Tours and then Travellers Inn, driving the limousines for weddings and school graduations. He drove passenger vans for the wine tours. (He sure dressed up nicely in a suit for those jobs!) After he resigned from the Travellers Inn he worked for a short period of time for the Airporter. He then took his security guard certificate and worked for Securiguard at the Times Colonist building doing the night shift. He enjoyed doing that job before he became ill with pneumonia and then cancer.
Steve was very proud of his family history (he was a direct descendent, the fourth generation born in Victoria, of the Alexander family – Nancy & Charles were original black pioneers in Victoria) and his large family that included his cousins, nieces and nephews. His Mom, Louise, was a very talented artist with an expansive and loving personality. She gave Steve his roots by telling him the stories of his heritage. She, like most matriarchs. held the family together and Steve held her in the highest esteem. His dad meant the world to him because he was always there for him and he was also very fond of his Auntie Bernice who was always so kind to him and everybody else in the family.
Steve told me that the proudest moment in his life was when his son Gerrad was born. When Gerrad was 3 years old (1982), Steve and I were friends and he often brought Gerrad to Cobble Hill to visit me. Steve adored his little boy and I became very attached as well. Gerrad is steadfast and has remained loyal to both Steve and I through all the ups and downs in our lives (as did his amazing wife, Angela and his beautiful daughter, Caitlyn). Steve and I married in 1984 and spent a little time travelling up island to visit family friends in Courtenay and going as far as Port Alice, my home town before settling in Victoria. I feel so fortunate to have gained a husband and a ‘son by my heart’ at the same time, who we helped raise together with my two daughters.
Steve also had a special connection with Ollie, a male orange cat. Ollie would rub up against Steve and I would tell Steve that Ollie ‘ rove’s you’. Just one of the silly sayings that I would come up with that poor Steve had to tolerate. One day I was trying to find Steve in the house and instead of saying Stephen I said Teabun and he ended up with the knickname,” Tiny Little Tea Buns” (that was a secret we shared of course.)
Steve liked to wear his hats and his leather jackets. It was a rarity to find him without a hat. He was also a bit of a chameleon who could change his appearance and you wouldn’t realize that you had just walked by him.
His favorite expression was “I’ll be right back!”, stemming from the many times he had to leave a patient to attend to something else during his nursing career. He had a gentle touch that was very comforting and I’m sure his patients benefited from that and his compassionate nature which I will now miss so much. Steve played the guitar, the banjo, and the flute and he shared some of his knowledge of playing guitar with his brother Tom. When they played together they produced beautiful music. Steve loved to play ballads. I especially remember “Dance, Dance, Dance” by the Steve Miller Band which he played for me whenever I was down. He liked anything by the Steve Miller Band and Led Zepplin/Robert Plant but his musical interests were very diverse. He told me one time that ‘music was in his soul’ and that it was an essential part of life.
Tom used to have a knickname of “Data” for Steve because if you asked Steve any question related to trivia he would likely have the correct answer.Steve passed away on the 17th of March 2014 which was St. Patricks Day. He would most likely have celebrated with a beer with his friends so I invite you to do this in his honour.I would like to thank Susan, Dad, Donna, Gerrad, Angela, Auntie Bernice, Nikki, Breanne, Ward, Heather and team from Royal Oak Home Care and Lucie from Hospice for all of their support during this difficult time.
