Stephen Keale

KEALE, Stephen
Stephen Gray "Steve" Keale, 36, husband of 10 years to Susan Keale of Chico, owner of Chico Florist; son to Marty & Charlotte Keale of Sacramento; brother to Stephanie and brother-in-law to her husband Christopher Mackey of Carmichael, CA; uncle to Julia, Alexandra & Mikaela Mackey. Stephen passed to the next life unexpectedly and peacefully on Monday, November 29, 2004, while attending a retreat with Sogyal Rinpoche, a world-renowned Tibetan Buddhist teacher. He had lived all of his life with the painful, debilitating effects of hemophilia, and had been infected with HIV and hepatitis C over 20 years ago while being treated for the hemophilia. Steve was born on November 22, 1968, in Westchester County, NY and grew up in Norwalk CT. With his family he relocated to southern California in 1981, where he graduated from Newbury Park High School in Thousand Oaks. On his own Stephen later moved to northern California, residing for a time in Arcata and in Mt. Shasta, where he met Susan, his wife. They moved to Chico in 1996 to attend CSU Chico. Steve received a BS in Therapeutic Recreation in 2000. He was an occasional guest lecturer at CSUC on the topic of living with disabilities. Stephen was employed for several years as a pharmaceutical sales rep for a firm which provides hemophilia blood products. He was a co-founder and first President of Disabled Adventure Outfitters, a non-profit organization which provides wilderness experiences for people with disabilities. Stephen also worked as a goldsmith from time to time, and was a certified gemologist. He enjoyed whitewater rafting and golf and was an avid movie buff. He could recite the plots of some films scene by scene. His favorite director was Akira Kurosawa of Seven Samurais fame. Stephen devoted his life to alleviating the suffering of others. His generous spirit, warm, caring smile and marvelous sense of humor will be missed by all who knew him. A celebration of Steves life will be held on Saturday, December 11, 2004 at 1:00 PM. at Newton-Bracewell Chico Funeral Home, 680 Camellia Way, Chico, CA 95926 (530-342-9003). Send condolences and find directions to funeral home online at www.nbcfh.com.