Steven Blahnik
February 10, 1952 - March 28, 2023

Steven passed away on March 28 at 4:20 p.m. after a short-lived but intense illness.

He was born in Algoma, Wisconsin and graduated from high school in Oregon, Wisconsin. He started the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, playing basketball as in high school until one day in 1972 he was walking across campus and saw it was -70 degrees wind chill factor, and “decided right then and there to move to San Francisco.

In San Francisco Steven worked various jobs, using his bicycle for transportation up and down the hilly city until he went back to Wisconsin to take a long bicycle trip with a friend from Wisconsin to California. Their bikes gave out around Montana so they decided to hop a freight and, luckily, met a railroad yard man who told them exactly what to do to get to San Francisco; how to do it and don’t dilly dally around, just follow instructions by a rail guy they would meet in Seattle. An early 1970s Wisconsin hippy riding the rails!

After arriving back in San Francisco he met his first wife, Simone and had his first child, Eli. They separated after three years and he raised Eli on his own most of the time, working again at various jobs — a handyman, teacher at a preschool and volunteered at an open classroom, until he began carpentry and construction, which would be his life career. At the beginning of his career he met Andre, his new business partner and lifelong friend, who joined him in a multitude of jobs from building a house out of a railroad car to rehabbing the Majestic Hotel on Sutter Street in San Francisco. Steven lived in cooperative housing until a landslide ran right through the building in 1983. A few years after, Steven married Eleanor and had his second child, his daughter Gabriele. They moved to Humboldt, built a yurt and he worked with his new partner, Dan, on many construction projects throughout Southern Humboldt.

After divorcing Eleanor he met his soul mate of 24 years, Kathy Wolff, in 1999 at a grocery store, and together they proceeded to purchase land in Larabee Valley, build a house from scratch, move in sheep, a horse, sometimes pigs and chickens, and live sustainably off the land for the past 21 years. He continued to work construction projects until 2008, when he retired to be a full time farmer. In 2010 he volunteered to take the EMT class to work as a volunteer for STAR (Southern Trinity Area Rescue) and spent many long hours working with STAR as an EMT for 9 years.

Steven loved the Full Moon Drum Circles, had a Wisconsin wit, carved beautiful wood pieces, did special project construction for friends and neighbors, coordinated an all-volunteer crew to replace a much needed residents roof and was an ethical, valuable member of our community. His personal interests ranged from spirituality to metaphysics to baking sourdough bread. Talking of politics and war, he would quote “Everyone should go home and make bread.”

He left behind his loving longtime partner, Kathy Wolff, his sisters Constance and Lisa, his son Eli, his daughter Gabriele, his step sons Ritchie and Charlie, his stepdaughter Crissy, his grandchildren Sabrina, David, Iriana, Ryan and Aidan, his great-grandchildren Kendra and Kendall, his niece Tanya and his nephew Alex.

A celebration of Steven’s Life will be held at Grizzly Creek Campground, Saturday, June 25 at 4 p.m.

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