Steve Eabry

1939 - 2023

Steve Eabry
September 16, 1939 - June 9, 2023

San Luis Obispo, California - Herbert Stephen (Steve) Eabry, passed peacefully in his home on June 9, 2023 at the age of 83.

Steve was born on September 16, 1939 in NYC and raised on Staten Island. Love of nature and conservation was woven through his life. At the age of five he took over tending the family compost pile and kept one continuously for the rest of his life. He spent his early years exploring and observing the beaches, tidal areas, and ocean near his home, and the wild areas of Ten Mile River Scout camp upstate, where he was a scout leader and Eagle Scout.

He attended NY State College of Forestry at Syracuse University, earning his way as a carpenter. After graduation, looking for an opportunity to explore the Arctic and Antarctic, he enlisted in the US Navy through the Officer Candidate School. On completion, his highest rating in navigation gave him first pick of ships seeking a navigator and the icebreaker USS Burton Island was on the list. During his tour of duty he helped to conduct scientific experiments and along the way taught himself the art of scrimshaw on walrus tusks, creating pieces to chronicle his journeys. He always enjoyed sharing photos and stories of penguins, seals, whales and the magnificent beauty of the polar regions.

After his service, he returned to college and received a Master's degree in Wildlife Biology from the University of Connecticut. For many years he worked as a biologist for the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the NY State Public Service Commission, monitoring the impact of electric power plants and transmission lines on human health and wildlife. This involved keeping abreast of science on the effects of electromagnetic fields and the natural electromagnetic fields in our bodies. Later, this understanding was woven back into his life in the practice of touch therapies that work primarily by supporting the flow of this energy.

In 1967 he met and fell in love with Martha (Marty) Louise Green. Their first date was an expedition to the local dump - the beginning of many years hunting for and refinishing antique treasures at flea markets and garage sales. They married a year later and bought and restored a 150-year-old house in the Helderbergs, west of Albany. The following year, their daughter, Kim, was born. They shared this family home until 1975 when they designed and built a new home nearby, with passive solar features. Steve has told of the many, many trees he planted during the time they lived in the area. He was a loving and wonderful husband and father, sharing his joy of the natural world in the wild and the garden, and teaching Kim carpentry, artistic woodworking, photography and other skills for self-sufficiency and homesteading. They all shared lots of fun experiences camping, hiking and exploring historical sites.

Steve and Marty became interested in touch therapy and studied massage and Polarity Therapy in California at the Santa Cruz College of the Healing Arts and the Esalen Institute in Big Sur. This precipitated their relocation in 1985 to San Luis Obispo where Kim finished her last two years of high school, and they started Body Therapy, supporting clients with healing touch. They also taught classes, including baby massage, and encouraged people to use these healing techniques themselves. Later, Steve cared for Marty before she passed with breast cancer in 1996.

Steve lived his belief that caring touch is healing by sharing massage and hugs with his family, and at music festival events he attended. He was a volunteer with Aids Support Network (ASN) from its inception, and a weekly fixture for over ten years at the Prado Day Center in San Luis Obispo, massaging the weary feet of people who were experiencing homelessness. Steve also actively contributed to the massage profession, writing articles for and serving on the Editorial Board of Massage Magazine. He was an outspoken critic of imposing unnecessary requirements on aspiring practitioners, wanting to keep the touch profession accessible. Steve will be inducted into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame in 2024 for his contributions to the field.

Alongside building their Body Therapy practice, and with his experience in wildlife biology, Steve got a part time job as a Senior Planner for the San Luis Obispo County Planning Department. It was in this role that Steve became passionate about protecting the ecological gem that is the Morro Bay Estuary. He created meetings for all stakeholders (scientists, government agencies, people in fishing and tourism industries, and concerned citizens) allowing folks to get to know each other and discover their shared values and interests, and to address specialized needs around the beauty, benefits and uses of the Bay. This group, the Morro Bay Task Force, was the beginning of a process which successfully secured Morro Bay a place in the National Estuary Program with the funds this provides for education and conservation.

Through his continued Body Therapy workshops, Steve met Jane Wheeler in 1998 when she signed up for a 6-week Polarity Therapy training. She was a fellow touch practitioner and began volunteering with him at times for ASN events. They became friends and over several years found many shared interests, especially a love of music and singing. Steve's passion was folk music, especially those songs which tell the story of the struggles, love, and compassion of the common people and of celebrated social movements. A series of fortunate events brought them together as life partners for the last 22 years of his life and he became part of a larger family of Jane's children, grandchild and her sister's family.

In 1997 Steve had welcomed Max Turri as Kim's partner, and in 2002 he and Jane witnessed their marriage at the Chadwick garden at UC Santa Cruz where Kim had studied Agroecology, following in her father's footsteps. In 2004 Steve and Jane attended the home birth of Steve's grandson, Sage Francesco Turri. Steve watched Sage's growth, helping with homeschool projects and encouraging his interest in learning to play the fiddle.

Steve and Jane travelled in their "cottage" to Old Songs Festival in Altamont New York and Common Ground on the Hill in Westminster Maryland in June and into July from 2002 to 2007. Steve had made the trip solo the three previous years. Along the way they visited family and friends and tried to avoid commercial campgrounds (except KOA) and "interstate food" as much as possible.

At Common Ground, Steve offered classes in Therapeutic Touch and Polarity. He set up a very popular foot massage stand every morning outside the camp store during the week and a massage table on the grounds of the two-day weekend music festival offering the gift of touch. Common Ground planted the seeds for the singing circle they hosted in their home, where they shared their love of singing with friends. At the Old Songs Festival they immersed themselves in music.

He and Jane shared a loving, companionable and peaceful retirement. It was very meaningful to him in his later years to contribute generously to people and organizations supporting compassion, conservation, and socioeconomic justice. He enjoyed reading every single day, cooking, tending his fruit trees, bountiful tomato patches, gardens, and his compost pile, to the very end.

Steve had a warm and gentle heart, a kind word, a listening ear and wise words for all, earning him a firm place in the hearts of those whose lives he touched. As his friend Walt Michael said, "We will miss you Steve, but you remain with us as we seek to care for one another and when we sing. That is your gift to us."

We will be hosting a celebration of Steve's life at noon on August 17th at the Dairy Creek Group Day Use area of El Chorro Regional Park, 2961 Dairy Creek Rd, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405. Dairy Creek is the third group area on the left as you drive in the park.

As this is an outdoor event, we encourage you to dress comfortably and casually, with layers, and to bring a water bottle, a sunhat and sunscreen. Restrooms are quite a distance, so you may want to avail yourself of them before settling in.

In lieu of flowers, we invite you to consider making a donation in Steve's memory to a cause that is close to your heart.