Steven J. Gordon

The world lost a great fisherman, father, husband, grandfather, uncle, brother, and friend. Steven J Gordon, 59, passed away suddenly of a heart attack on Wednesday, January 11th.

Steve was born on May 15th, 1963 to Julia Temple and Richard Gordon in Bloomington, IL.

Steve grew up in Bloomington and joined the National Guard in 1980. He came to Fort McCoy, Wisconsin for training during the summer of 1981 and ended up staying.  He married Peggy Thomas in 1982 and together they had three sons.

Steve worked at Rolling Hills as a certified nursing assistant for several years, then went to tech school to be a machinist. After graduating from tech school, he worked at Spartek for many years. In 2008, he realized his dream and opened his own machine shop, S & P Metal Stamping.

Steve was a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and spent several years teaching karate to both adults and children.  He enjoyed fishing, sparring, fishing, watching fishing, and more fishing. When he wasn’t fishing, he was planning to go fishing. In addition to fishing, he enjoyed watching his pet koi.  He was looking forward to retirement so he could do more fishing.

Although he sometimes had a Crappie attitude, Steve had a heart of gold and would help anyone with anything if he could.  He often commented that he was “living the dream” and was able to do more in life than he ever imagined.

Steve is survived by his wife, Peggy; sons, Jonathon of Montrose, MI, Tyler of Sparta, and Adam (Jessica) of Boone, IA; his favorite “Honey”, granddaughter, Hailey Gordon; sisters, Debi, Robin, Christy, and Cindy; brothers, Jeff, Darryl, and Dan; and numerous nieces and nephews; sisters in law, Shannon (Alex) Ulep of Japan and Michelle Banks of Warrens; brothers in law, Chuck Thomas and Scott (Cindy) Thomas; and mother in law, Carolyn Thomas. He also left behind many friends that he considered family.

Steve was preceded in death by his mother and father; father in law; and brother, Rick.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date. Online condolences may be offered at www.schanhoferfh.com

Lanham-Schanhofer Funeral Home and Cremation, Sparta, is assisting the family with arrangements. 

Steve did not want to be remembered with tears and sadness.  He wanted those around him to carry on with life and be happy.  He wanted a party, with stories and laughter.  He knew he was loved and would be missed and there would be tears from some, but overall he wanted life to go on and the people he loved to be happy.   

Steve will forever be remembered:

By his siblings, as a young boy up to antics and fun and trouble.

By his nieces and nephews, as a loud and gruff, but loving uncle.

By his friends, as a fun loving, warm hearted, easy-going man who loved a good “discussion” on politics, football, and the state of the world.

By his business associates, as helpful, loyal, and honest.

By his family, as all of those things and so much more. 

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, May 13th from 1:00 PM until 3:00 PM at Lanham-Schanhofer Funeral Home and Cremation in Sparta.

Per Steve’s wishes, there will be no formal service.  This will be a time to gather, tell stories, share memories, give your condolences.

60th Birthday Bash!

Steve would have turned 60 on May 15th.

Family and friends are invited to a 60th Birthday Bash at Wayside Tavern in Sparta from 3:00 PM until 5:00 PM.  Stop down and have a drink or soda, reminisce with his family and friends, share stories, etc. 

For those coming from out of town, while I would love to be able to host everyone here, I just don’t have the room.  Here are the numbers for motels in Sparta.

Super 8 - 716 Avon Rd - 608-269-8489

Country Inn & Suites - 737 Avon Rd - 608-269-3110

Best Western Plus - 4445 Theater Rd - 608-269-2664

There are also several homes in Sparta listed on VRBO that are available for those dates.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Steven J. Gordon, please visit our floral store.