I was recently contacted by the Pellegrini family after they found my name in Steve's Rolodex. The family informed me that Steve had passed away last September due to complications from diabetes. I knew Steve was battling the disease when he suddenly disappeared last summer. I had no way of locating him.

Although Steve was rather enigmatic and reclusive, I was still able to strike up a limited friendship with him due to our common interests in WWI and Goetz medals. He wrote well about many subjects related to WWI propaganda and art medal and medallion production. He was passionate about medal collecting and loved the history perhaps more than the medals.

I will miss Steve and the loss of future opportunities to bounce questions off him and walking away with an education.