Steven G Smith

STEVEN G. SMITH Now comes a tale of life, 60 years filled with laughs and tears, joy and sorrow and, hopefully, just enough comedy to keep the reader hanging on to the final word. While every word is true, some of it is still going to be a little hard to believe. But since I lived it, I wrote it, and like I said, it’s all true. Steven G. Smith, 60, who has been the sports editor at The Grant County Journal in Ephrata, Washington the last 21 years, passed away Wednesday, October 7, 2020. Steven was born August 23, 1960, at West Seattle General Hospital in Seattle, Washington, the second of four sons to Rosetta (Keller) and Charles Smith. He was one of the final births to take place at that hospital, which was closed a few months later, and he liked to joke that “they took one look at me and realized they weren’t going to do any better, so let’s just shut the place down.” Steven spent the first few years of life being raised in Burien, Wash. but his parents divorced in 1967 and his mother moved her sons to the small Grays Harbor community of Montesano, Wash. Before you Google Map that, it’s located 10 miles east of Aberdeen and roughly 30 miles from the Pacific Ocean – that’s how small Montesano is. It was while he was a senior in Montesano that he caught the newswriting bug. He graduated from Montesano High School in 1978 and tried to start college, but that didn’t last long. He met and married a Montana girl, Tina Sterner, who died in 1983 while giving birth to a daughter, Margaret. He finally started his college years in 1984 at Green River Community College in Auburn, Wash., where he met Susan Brown – they were married a year later and had three children – Alicia, Cassandra and Steven Jr. They divorced and in 1999, Steven met and married his one true love in life, Sharon DePew, a girl from the Entiat River Valley, Wash., who loved him more than anyone ever had. She had three daughters who he immediately adored, and it was the joy of his life to help raise. Steven went from Green River with an Associate of Arts degree to Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Wash. in 1986 but he remained there only a year. In the spring of 1987, he got his first job in the journalism field at the Newport (Ore.) NewsTime writing sports. The News-Times belonged to the Capitol Cities-ABC Network corporation, a division of Disney, and the newspaper was little more than a cash operation in the eyes of their corporate ownership. That’s why, after a year when the cost-cutting moves began to include layoffs, Steven decided to head over to Oregon State University in 1988, where he completed his Bachelor of Science in Technical Journalism. Why “technical journalism,” you ask? Well, Oregon State is an agricultural research institution and required a technical minor, so he chose safety studies to go with a journalism degree – that meant if Steven saw a cow on fire in some farmer’s field, he could tell the farmer the best way to put the cow out and write the story at the same time. After getting his degree, he did a summer internship at a daily newspaper in Indiana, which showed Steven one thing about himself – small-town, community journalism was his love, not the daily grind of pulling wire copy and reading other people’s work. He spent a couple of years in Winnemucca, Nev., then in Prineville, Ore., before returning to Washington state with the Pacific Media Group, where he was a reporter and sportswriter working for a newspaper that covered Seattle neighborhoods in the north and south ends of town. But the small-town boy wanted to go back to the small town, so a job with DeVaul Publishing in Chehalis sent him to the East County Journal in Morton, Wash. for six years – he worked for Frank and Judy DeVaul, who have ties to central Washington (Judy is an Ephrata native). Then in 1999, came the best break of all, a job as the sports editor for the Journal. Steven is survived by his wife, Sharon; and seven children – Margaret Sanchez, Shayla Kirk, Sara Kouffie, Alicia Smith, Cassandra Smith, Steven Smith Jr., and Deva Smith; and six grandchildren. He was preceded in death by both parents and his older brother, Michael. Because of the COVID-19 crisis, no funeral services will take place. A memorial service may be scheduled after the crisis has been dealt with. In lieu of flowers, his final wish is that people will donate in his name to the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Association, or to a charity of their choosing. Please express your thoughts and memories for the family at www.nicolesfuneralhome.com. Arrangements are under the care of Nicoles Funeral Home of Ephrata, Wash. A final thought from Steven: Please don’t be sad. I hate sad. I have tried to keep a positive attitude through my life, but yeah, I have failed more times than not. I have tried to maintain a sense of humor, maybe sprinkle the world with a few laughs – I hope I succeeded. So now, I wish you all long lives. Please do me one favor – love your family and each other. In the end, no matter what the rest of the world is dealing with, love is the one thing that can make it better. It has been my honor to be part of your lives. Thank you for letting me into your world - it has been a true pleasure. I love you Ephrata. Goodbye

Tributes

Steven G Smith

August 23, 1960 - October 7, 2020