Stephen Matthew Kowalczyk

Stephen Matthew Kowalczyk Was a gift our family received on Valentine's Day, 1975, in Albuquerque, NM. He was killed by small arms fire in Muqdadiyah, Iraq on March 14, 2007. Though he never touted them, his achievements were many. In just two years at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, Steve was selected as captain of the swimming team, and set three Top Ten All-Time swimming and diving records. After leaving college, Steve distinguished himself as a technician at a lab in the Utah desert, as a traveling craftsman along the California coast and as a dishwasher and handyman in the shadow of the holy sites of Jerusalem. Steve's adventures - the ones we know of - are true legends. He slumbered in a tent on the tundra of Alaska, and learned from a law enforcement officer in a cafe the next day that two Grizzlies had circled his tent in the early morning hours. He leapt from an iceberg and swam the frigid waters of the Arctic Ocean. On a weekend bicycle ride from Galveston, TX, to Louisiana, concerned local citizens told Steve that the places they observed him camping were "places where the alligators also liked to sleep." Steve surfed the Mexican pipeline with some of the world's best surfers. He left lightly used kite surfing equipment behind, along with many other plans for the future. On June 23, 2006, Steve wrote, "Today kite surfing in Galveston. Hurricane season - may God bless Texas with fury, anvils, lightning and precipitation... I am looking forward to it." During the last three years of his life, Steve focused his energy and ambition on becoming the best soldier he knew how to be. While in basic training he earned latrine duty for going on a 10 mile run at night after "lights out." Steve's near-term ambition was to become a warrant officer, and to that end he pursued his pilot's license on a scholarship secured for him by one of his superior officers at Fort Hood. He was within a solo flight or two of earning his private pilot's license at the time of his deployment. On his birthday, February 14, 2006 Steve wrote: "Yesterday I was flying a Cessna 152 over central Texas in strong winds... practiced a stall, threatened a spin, my instructor let me handle it. Nothing like flying at a slow motion speed of 60 knots straight toward the ground, twisting toward the earth at 3000 ft... life is great." Throughout his letters, emails and journals, a common theme was a love of nature, under all circumstances. On January 24, 2007, in the aftermath of a firefight north of Baghdad, Steve wrote: The towns people of XXXX observed us and we them, our troop rolling hot. We grabbed the Baath Colonel and I fell asleep - I actually fell asleep in a beautiful nap and awoke, as the Colonel was zip tied walking across the street. I then observed a hawk. It flew across the street the other direction into a fruiting full orange tree that was cascading over an old mud wall. It was in close pursuit of some pigeons. My jaw dropped at all that I was observing. This sandy pepper-crested hawk, the Colonel, and the timing of the moment. Steve made the most of his short periods of time with family. Whether dancing like a fool for his giggling nieces and nephew - singing made-up opera about his day, badly off key, as he washed the dishes - or throwing his head back to laugh at a good story, or an unsupported argument. He lived and loved with intensity. He also took pains to keep in touch with all members of our family. The following is the text of a letter to his 8 year-old nephew in Boulder, received the day after his death: "Today was a really good day in the Army. Another troop and company was doing an important mission attacking some insurgents. Our Troop C Company provided support to them in case they got in trouble. We practiced loading and unloading from an Osprey helicopter. When the helicopters land it's important for the soldiers to jump off as fast as possible so that insurgents don't shoot the bird down with an RPG or with big machine guns. When you jump off the helicopter it's also important to kneel in the right place so that the pilot can make sure no one gets chopped up in the rotor blades when he takes off. It was an exciting day. I hope you are having fun in school and that you are taking care to be nice to your sisters since you are their strong brother and they love you a lot. Keep being a good guy. - From Iraq, SPC Kowalczyk" Services will be held on Thursday, April 5th at 4:00 pm at Trinity Lutheran Church, 2200 Broadway in Boulder. In lieu of flowers, the Kowalczyks have requested friends honor Corporal Stephen Matthew Kowalczyk's memory with donations to Heifer Int'l, www.heifer.org