Stephanie Jeanne Subak

1956 - 2015

Stephanie Jeanne Subak

Stephanie Jeanne Subak, 58, died August 5, 2015 in a fall while hiking in the Sierra Nevada of California. She was accompanied by dear friends Annette Frahm, Martha Gluck, and Suze Woolf, of Seattle, WA, who fortunately were not injured.

Steph was born on December 13, 1956, in Minneapolis, MN, where she graduated from St. Anthony Village High School and briefly attended the University of Minnesota. She moved to Seattle to continue her studies at the University of Washington. Steph earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from UW in 1979.

Around 1980, Steph joined John Fluke Mfg. Co. Inc. of Mountlake Terrace, WA (later Fluke Corporation) as an Electrical Design Engineer. At Fluke she met and secretly courted Lowell Skoog, another Design Engineer and UW graduate. They were married on September 17, 1983. With a few short breaks, Steph worked at Fluke until September 2014. Her career spanned several technical and management levels to become Director of Engineering for the Industrial Products Group. Steph was a leader in the company and a mentor to younger engineers, universally admired for her warmth, intelligence, humor, energy and generosity.

Always active and athletic, Steph deepened her love of the outdoors through adventures with her husband Lowell. She became an alpine ski instructor, achieving PSIA Level 3 certification. She climbed and/or skied hundreds of peaks in the Cascades and Olympics, including all of the Cascade volcanos. In 1991, she learned to fly paragliders, becoming one of the earliest women in Washington to take up that sport. With her husband and friends, she traveled to India, Nepal, Peru, New Zealand, Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Canada, and beyond, to tour, climb and ski.

In 1996, Steph and Lowell were blessed with the birth of their son Thomas. Steph was a loving and devoted mother, always engaged and supportive as she guided (but never pushed) Tom to discover new skills and activities. She savored family trips throughout the world, but especially to her birthplace in Minnesota, where she enjoyed snowy winters in Minneapolis and crystalline summers on Lake Vermilion with her extended family. In 2014-15, Steph took a sabbatical from Fluke to spend more time with her mother and to volunteer as chairwoman of the Roosevelt High Jazz Boosters during Tom's senior year in high school. In the process, Steph deepened her friendships within the wonderful Roosevelt parent community.

Steph was preceded in death by her father Nick Subak of Minneapolis, MN. She is survived by her husband, Lowell Skoog, and son, Tom Skoog, both of Seattle, WA; mother, Barbara Subak, brother, Brad Subak, and sister, Laura Subak (husband, John Moore), all of Minneapolis. Steph was a loving sister-in-law to Lawrence Skoog (deceased), R. Philip Skoog (wife, Jan Skoog), Anita Skoog Neil (husband, Bill Neil), Gordy Skoog (partner, Kim O'Farrell), and Carl Skoog (deceased), all of the greater Seattle area. She was a cherished aunt to Courtney Cross (Philip), Wendy Gerber and Julie Iriondo; Dana Skoog Questad and Erik Skoog (Gordy), and Nick and Rose Moore (Laura).

A celebration of Steph's life will be held Saturday, August 29, 2015, at 1 p.m. at The Mountaineers, 7700 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to United Way of Snohomish County (http://www.uwsc.org/).