Stephen was born on May 24, 1954 in Peoria, Illinois to Alvis and Clara Jane King. He was the fifth child out of 7 children. His dad passed away when Stephen was only 13 years old. At age 17, Stephen dropped out of high school to join the Marine Corps.

His Marine assignments ranged from aircraft maintenance/maintenance control to training then security, including two tours of embassy duty. Having done embassy duty in Ankara, Turkey and Prague, Czechoslovakia (when it was still behind the Iron Curtain) and serving in Desert Storm, he truly understood the cost of our freedom. During his time in the Marines, Stephen resumed his education, getting his high school diploma, a Bachelor in Aviation Management and a Masters in Management of Information Systems. Stephen retired from the Marine Corps on September 30, 1998 as a Master Gunnery Sergeant after 27 years and 1 week of service.     

Not sure how Stephen had envisioned his life after the Marines, especially since he had sworn that he would never date a woman with kids, especially not a girl child. He was enjoying retirement from the Marine Corps, working as a civilian, when his best friend talked him into being a last-minute blind date substitute at a Christmas dinner dance. Well, man plans and God laughs or life has a way of making a liar out of us. His date actually had two strikes against her – she had a girl child fast approaching those dreadful teen years and she had graduated from U.C. Berkeley. While it wasn’t love at first sight, he did ask her out for a real date, they began dating, he proposed and Stephen and Stephanie were finally married on October 30, 2005 at the Church at Rocky Peak.

His was a life of service. Service to our country as a Marine. Service to his community through his involvement with amateur radio for auxiliary emergency communication services (Orange County RACES, Los Angeles DCS and Ventura County ACS/ARES) and as a member of Ventura County MRC. And most importantly, service to his church. Unless he was sick, every Saturday night he was on the church patio either greeting or doing security.

Stephen passed away July 28, 2023 at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center from liver failure. He is survived by his wife Stephanie, sons Stephen and Eric, daughter Ashley, daughters-in-law Lucy and Kyli, son-in-law-to-be Jon, eight grandchildren, his sister Ramona, his brothers Bruce, Jeff, and Mark, his cats Pivo II and Stella Rose, his dog Gracie, and turtles Godzilla and Mr. Turtle.

 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to one of the following:

·         Children’s Hunger Fund

·         Palliative Puffs

·         Prison Fellowship Angel Tree

·         ZOE International