R. Stephen Eastman Jr.

KEARSARGE — R. Stephen "Steve" Eastman Jr., 58, of Kearsarge, co-founder of The Mountain Ear weekly newspaper of Conway, one of the creators of the annual World Mud Bowl Football Championships in North Conway and a graduate of Portsmouth High School, died in North Conway on Friday, April 25, 2008, after a lengthy illness.

Eastman leaves his wife, Sarah (Whitcomb) Eastman; a daughter, Emily, 22, a senior at the University of New Hampshire; and a son, Grant, 20, a sophomore at Northeastern University in Boston.

He is also survived by a brother, David L. Eastman of Tamworth; sister Judith A. (Eastman) Federowicz and brother-in-law David Federowicz of Martha's Vineyard, Mass.; brother Jonathon G. Eastman and sister-in-law Mary Ann Eastman of Heber City, Utah; sister Mary Leone (Eastman) Borowski and brother-in-law Robert Borowski of Nashua; sister Susan F. Eastman Walton and brother-in-law Hugh Walton of Boulder, Colo.; brother Thomas E. Eastman of Conway; sister Jeanie Eastman Ryan and brother-in-law Charles Riopel of Rye; brother-in-law Howard Whitcomb of Brookfield, Mass.; 18 nieces and nephews; and eight grandnieces and grandnephews.

WE REMEMBER: Eastman was the son of the late Capt. Robert S. Eastman, U.S. Navy-retired, originally of Hanover, and the late Mrs. Barbara E. (Long) Eastman, originally of Bellows Falls, Vt., and late of Portsmouth.

Eastman was born in Annapolis, Md., on July 5, 1949, and spent his childhood as part of a career Naval family, living in such locations as Newport, R.I., Norfolk, Va., Boston and Portsmouth. He graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1967.

A 1971 graduate of Plymouth State College, Eastman earned a degree in history. Until this year, he had served on the Plymouth State University President's Council. The council in February announced the establishment of a Leadership and Service Award in Eastman's name.

The award was established for Eastman's "40 years of outstanding leadership and service to Plymouth State University, the North Country and his community."

Eastman and then-partner Jane (Golden) Reilly founded The Mountain Ear in May 1976 as the "weekly lifestyle and news journal of Mount Washington Valley." He served as its publisher and editor until he sold it to Salmon Press, a chain of weekly newspapers, in March 2005. Soon after, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

He co-founded the Mt. Washington Valley Hogs mud football team in 1975, co-founded the World Mud Bowl Championships in North Conway in 1976 and founded the Tournament of Mud Parade in 1981. The Mud Bowl has raised more than $450,000 for charitable organizations over the years.

SERVICES: Visiting hours will be from 1 to 3 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Furber and White Funeral Home in North Conway. A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday at Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church in North Conway. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the R. Stephen Eastman Phi Mu Kappa/Tau Kappa Epsilon Leadership Scholarship, care of Plymouth State University Office of Advancement, 17 High St., MSC No. 50, Plymouth, NH 03284-1595; or to Jen's Friends Cancer Foundation, P.O. Box 1842, North Conway, NH 03860; or to Visiting Nurses and Hospice of Mount Washington Valley, P.O. Box 432, North Conway, NH 03860.