Steven Michael Partch

Steve Partch passed suddenly into the next life on July 17th. He was 71 years old.

He was the son of Ambrose and Jenny Partch and was born at Colfax on August 3, 1952. Steve had three brothers, Dave "Skip" (Ruth), Greg (Sherry), and Michael Joe (deceased). His father Ambrose, being a career Navy Officer, moved his family on a regular basis to wherever his orders carried him and his family. Thus, Steve attended schools in several states including Rhode Island, California and Washington. He graduated from Oakesdale High School in 1970.

Steve followed in his father's footsteps by enlisting in the Naval Submarine Service in 1980 and obtained the rank of Chief. He met his wife. Margaret, sister of a shipmate, in Hawaii and they were married in 1982. They have two sons, Patrick (Ali) and Paul (Ginger). After 22 years of service, he retired and they took over her family's cattle farm/ranch at Atascosa, Texas, south of San Antonio.

Having been enclosed underwater in a vessel for so long, he cherished the "wide-open" spaces of his youth on the Palouse and later on at the ranch in Texas. He often commented about how he never wanted to be "confined" in anything again in his life...or death. Thus, his final wish. "I want to be cremated and spread across the lands I loved. Never again do I want to be put in a container of any kind and buried. His ashes will be spread amongst the rolling hills of the Palouse and the expanses of the Lone Star State.

A stone will join his parent's and brother's stones in the Garfield cemetery in the shadows of nearby Steptoe Butte. If you wish to make a memorial in his name, please send in his name to:

Merry Glen Family Home

2917 N Cincinnati St.

Spokane, Wa. 99207

Steve would sincerely appreciate your thoughtfulness for those who cared for his little brother Mike for over 50 years.