A Celebration of Life service for 70-year old former Chadron resident Steve Erwin will be Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, at 11:00 CT at St Mark’s United Methodist Church in Lincoln.
A Celebration of Life gathering will be held Friday evening, Feb. 24, from 5-7:00 at Roper and Sons South Lincoln Chapel in Lincoln.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to TeamMates, Chadron State College, or the April Sampson Cancer Center.
Online condolences may be left at Roperandsons.com.
Steven D Erwin was born December 17, 1952, in Wakefield, NE to Verdel and Alyce (Pearson) Erwin. A beloved husband, dad, and grandpa, Steve passed away February 19, 2023, after a heroic battle with cancer.
Steve was an outstanding high school athlete at Laurel High School, earning All-Class All-State honors in football once and basketball twice as a right-handed quarterback and left-handed shooter on the court.
Steve started all 4 years in both sports and led Laurel to an undefeated football season and the then-”mythical” Class B state championship as a senior. He was 32-6 in his career as the starting quarterback.
In basketball, Steve was solid on both ends of the floor and a strong rebounder. He led the Bears to a Class B state runner-up finish and ended his high school career with 1,427 points and a state-record 1,321 rebound.
He was inducted into the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2021.
Steve went on to play basketball at Nebraska and was a 2-year starter for coach Joe Cipriano at a time when freshmen could not play varsity ball. He started 55 of his 71 games with the Huskers and even averaged 3.3 assists as a senior.
His daughter Lindsay followed in her father’s footsteps and was a 4-year starter in basketball at Chadron State College.
Steve graduated from UNL in 1975 with a degree in animal science and went to work evaluating animals at a livestock market in Norfolk, but left for the banking industry in 1979.
He came to Chadron and the First National Bank of Chadron in 1983. He was its president when the bank sold in 1990 and left, moving to the opposite side of the state as director of ag lending at FirsTier Bank in Omaha.
FirsTier eventually became part of U-S Bank and Steve served as its Nebraska-Western Iowa regional president from 2005 until his retirement in 2018.
His focus then shifted to cattle and Crow Butte Beef, transforming their ranching operation near Crawford into a boutique brand of prime, all-natural Black Angus beef for both direct retail sale and through a contract with Whole Foods.
Steve is survived by his wife Janice; daughters Megan Kvols and Lindsay (Scott) McLaughlin; grandchildren Elizabeth, Grant and Jake Kvols and Cooper and Noah McLaughlin. He is also survived by his brother Brad Erwin.
Roper and Sons South Lincoln Chapel is in charge of arrangements for Steve Erwin.