Steve Posey

Steve Posey was the oldest child of Rollin and Elizabeth (Dykstra) Posey, born in Hartford, Connecticut, and raised in Evanston, Illinois.

He attended four colleges, including Yale University and the University of Wisconsin. Although he never completed a degree, he enjoyed his studies, especially science courses.

Steve always said that his early career was where the real fun was for him. He started out as a musician playing jazz guitar but ultimately left the world of the "gig" for a "real job" at the Midwestern Universities Research Association in Madison, Wisconsin, whose mission was to bring high-energy physics to the Midwest.

Steve was an acceleration system designer for a particle accelerator until the lab that he worked in was relocated to the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Chicago, Illinois.

Steve then went to work for Dicomed Corp. in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as project manager for the NASA Apollo 16 experimental film digitalization project that brought images from the moon back to Earth.

He loved everything about the space program and talked often of trips to Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Unfortunately, that work ended when government funds for the space program were cut in the mid-1970s.

He then moved to Colorado, where he met and married Golda, his loving wife of 33 years.

In Colorado, he was a field service technician for large computer systems. He traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and enjoyed frequent-flyer perks that allowed him to take Golda on many memorable trips.

Business brought him to Seattle, Washington, multiple times in the 1980s and he said he knew that it was the "next place" to live.

He and Golda moved to Seattle in 1985, and Steve worked for, and ultimately retired from, computer information services at Regence Blue Shield.

After retirement, he said it was time to find a place with a slower pace and less traffic, so he and Golda moved to Port Townsend in 2004 after building a home in Kala Point.

Steve volunteered as a Kala Point board member and newsletter editor until his metastatic prostate cancer diagnosis in 2008.

He then found his last great passion: Argentine tango. For the last two years of his life, he became addicted to the dance.

He took tango lessons seriously because he knew that he didn't have time for years of practice needed to become a real tanguero. He loved tango and talked nonstop about it to anyone who would listen.

He greatly appreciated the encouragement he received from the Port Townsend and Port Angeles tango communities as he worked to improve his dancing.

Steve was a devoted and loving husband, caring brother, inveterate optimist and passionate adventurer throughout his life. He always had the soul of the collector, whether it was 1941 Lincoln Continentals, automobiles in general, pre-World War II shortwave radios, guitars or all things tango.

A celebration of Steve's well-lived life is planned for Saturday, April 9, 2011, at 4 p.m. in the clubhouse of the Kala Point Owners' Association, 310 Sailview Drive, Port Townsend.

Contributions can be made in Steve's name to the Hospice Foundation of Jefferson Healthcare, 2500 West Sims Way, Port Townsend, WA 98368.