I never had the pleasure of meeting Steve in person, but for the past 20 or so years I've had the pleasure of bantering back and forth with Steve on the phone whenever Tom or Deb were visiting me in Florida. I lived in Port Charlotte, Florida, close to Punta Gorda, where Steve lived for a short while after he got out of the Air Force. We would share stories of Florida and have a few good laughs.
I moved to New Mexico a couple years ago, and spoke most recently with Steve less than two months ago. It was a short, but fun conversation. My condolences to the Hammond family on their loss. Tom just showed me the Website (Tom and Deb are over having dinner with us tonight), and enjoyed reading the story of Steve. It's easy to see how much Steve was loved. I'll miss our conversations.
Thank you John for the kind words. Eric