Stephen David Capps

Stephen David Capps passed away peacefully at his home on January 9, 2024. He was born in Longview, TX on July 29, 1965 to David and Glenda Capps. He was raised in the Pine Tree area of Longview and attended Pine Tree Schools graduating in 1983. He was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus in 1999. In high school, Steve was a member of the band and the PT Express. His musical talent earned him a scholarship to Louisiana Tech where he was a member of the drum line in the Bulldog band and graduated with a degree in architecture. For graduate school, Steve was accepted into a highly specialized program at the University of Houston. The program was a collaboration between the College of Architecture, the College of Engineering and NASA's University Space Research Program. Steve was one of 12 students accepted into the program and one of two accepted to a NASA co-op program. After graduating with a Master's Degree in Architecture, Steve was recruited by Boeing. He worked for Boeing in Huntsville, AL, Seattle, WA and Huntington Beach, CA, during which time he was involved in space architecture for NASA. At the time of his retirement, Steve was program manager of the Combat Survivor Evader Locator radio transmitter program for the US Air Force. This radio transmitter allows the US military to track a downed pilot while preventing the enemy from seeing their location. After 31 years of service, he retired on his 55th birthday and moved back home to Longview in 2020. Steve thoroughly enjoyed travel and visited many countries around the globe. He also enjoyed sports and closely followed his LA Tech Bulldogs and Houston Cougars as well as the University of Texas Longhorns. During his retirement years, he was able to root for his nephews in their various sporting endeavors.
Steve was preceded in death by his father, David Capps. He is survived by his mother, Glenda Capps of Longview, sister Rhonda Oeters, MD and husband Harry of Ormond Beach, FL, Linea Weaver and husband Jim of Marshall, niece Rikki Milewski and husband Justin of Pensacola, nephews Jim and Jack Weaver of Marshall as well as a great niece, Charlotte Milewski of Pensacola. He is also survived by aunts Sandi Foster and husband Sid of Longview, Janice Schellinger and husband James of Royce City and Charlotte Cargil of Diana and numerous cousins.
A celebration of life is planned for February 10 at 4:00 PM in the chapel of Rader Funeral Home with visitation to follow.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Tunnels to Towers, www.t2t.org or the V Foundation, www.v.org.