Steve Remembered

[Keith Seymore]

I attended a memorial service for my friend Steve today. He passed away suddenly on July 2nd of a previously undiagnosed heart condition. He was 61 years old.

Steve and I worked at the GM Milford Proving Ground together. He was a mechanic through and through, with an affinity for engines and machines of all kinds. The memorial was held at his farm, about an hour north of where I live. The family had asked any of us with "hot rods" to drive them for a small display. I thought it would be fitting for me to drive my '87 pickup, since that's what he and I worked on when we were together. They also had his '67 GTO, his wife's '69 Chevelle (it was her car from before they were married) and his '72 Chevy pickup parked out in the grass.

Many of us heard Steve say, on more than one occasion, "...after I'm gone I want you to run my ashes through a Chevy big block, running at 4000 rpm. I want to see what the inside looks like." He even recently reminded one of his buddies: "you're gonna take care of that, right?"

Well - today was the day. At the end of the service they fired up his '72, which has a 396 in it, and ran it up to 4000 rpm, while pouring some of his ashes down the carb throat. I cried a little.

Godspeed my friend. A hot rodder to the very end.

K