Born: June 24, 1960 - Deceased: March 7, 2021
Steven Lawrence Mitchell, 60, of Belleville, IL, born Friday, June 24, 1960, in Jersey City, NJ, passed away Sunday, March 7, 2021, at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon, IL.
Steve was a husband, a father, a grandfather, an uncle, and a friend, but most of all, he was Dad and Grandpa (Pop-Pop). He loved his family more than anything and was always there for them. He had all the answers and was a hero to all who knew him. He fostered and encouraged growth in all his children. The world was a better place with him in it, and he will be dearly missed but never forgotten. His legacy will carry on forever through his family. Steve was a System Manager for General Dynamics Information Technology. He was a Veteran who served in the United States Air Force for 22 years.
He was preceded in death by his:
- Parents, Thomas and Dorothy, nee Tilfer, Mitchell
Surviving are his:
- Wife, Estelle, nee Batchelor, Mitchell of Belleville, IL
- Children:
- Matthew (fiancée, Michelle Sanford) Mitchell of Shiloh, IL
- Gregory (Jenna) Mitchell of Swansea, IL
- Christopher (fiancée Karla Hamilton) Mitchell
- Brother, Thomas (Therese) Mitchell of Albuquerque, NM
- Grandchildren:
- Cody Mitchell
- Alexander Mitchell
- Kylie Mitchell
- Karson Mitchell
- Numerous dear nieces and nephews
- His best friend, Toby
Memorials: Memorials may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project.
Visitation: A public gathering will be held from 3:00 – 8:00 pm, Friday, March 12, 2021, at Kurrus Funeral Home, in Belleville, IL to celebrate his life.
20 Comments
There are no words that can begin to express the heaviness in my heart… Words to somehow bring solace to your family because they do not exist. When I first met you, over the phone, in 1989 and you helped me get ready to transition my base to ‘CAMS for Airlift” I had no idea that it would be another 17 years before we spoke again, that you would be the mentor that would reshape my world, or that you would become a friend that I don’t know how to accept being without. I hope that I made you proud. I hope that you rest a bit easier knowing that I will do my best to carry on and be there for those that depended on you and your knowledge. I know it will only be a slice of what you know, but I will pass on all that you taught me to anyone who wants to learn. Your legacy continues in all of us and will for generations to come.
Estelle, you and the boys will always be in my heart and prayers. Whether I am just 4 miles down the road or across the country, I will always just be a phone call and a plane ride away. You are the unexpected gift that Steve brought into my life and I intend to hold on tightly.
All My Love,
~Penny
Estelle and family, I am deeply saddened to hear of Steve’s passing. You all are in our thoughts and prayers.
Estelle and all the Mitchell Family – I’m so very sorry to hear of Steve’s passing. I will always remember him for being such a great co-worker and friend to my husband, David. I pray that you find comfort in God’s promises, in your wonderful memories of him, and in the love you feel from family and friends.
The day I received the news my heart stopped. Never was it a thought that crossed my mind we would be mourning you. The biggest jokster of all time! Even though you drove me crazy, just your presence here is truly missed. They say “When we lose someone we love we must learn not to live without them. But to live with the love they left behind. ” And believe me, we have many memories & alot of love. Thanks to my picture taking abilities! You will be deeply missed forever Uncle Steve. I love you past the moon.
Steve, you will be missed so much. We all loved you so much. You were one of the most special people. Very smart, and so kind. I still can’t believe that you are gone.
Mr. Steven Mitchell, was a key member within the G081 program office. He was a fair minded person in all his actions, carefully analyzing every issue brought to his attention with a keen knowledge level that was always supplemented with impartiality, honesty, and righteousness for the systems end users. Although Steve was the most knowledgeable person within the G081 enclave, he never once stopped learning about the system and its direct impact to our customer base. With every issue, every task, every meeting, and every day Steve always kept the customer as the primary focal point to ensure peers understood the impacts of our decisions. When speaking of successful programs as large as G081, folks typically state “no one is irreplaceable”—“no one is bigger than the system”…folks…the loss of Mr. (THEE) Steve Mitchell to the G081 program office will truly test that statement like it has never been tested before.
God rest his soul, heal his family of pain and suffering, and give his peers the strength to carry out duties as justly as he would! He will be profoundly missed…
Respectfully and Unitedly,
G081 Program Management Office
I am so sorry for your loss, love to you and your boys. Let me know if there is anything I can do.
Yep, Steve was like a little brother to me. So smart and so kind.
It touch our hearts in more ways than we could imagine you and your wife made us feel like family like you’ve known us forever we will miss your smile your jokes your strong ☕ coffee we love you RIP our dear friend
Rest in peace, Steve. God bless you. Praying for your family. Thanks for your friendship and the memories! ??❤️
To the Mitchell Family—not sure how to express my heartfelt sorrow for your loss, but I truly hope you all can heal in your own time.
From one Jersey boy to another, Steve, you’ll truly be missed around the office with your favorite stinky popcorn that you tortured me with whenever you could. I hope heaven has some of the best damn pizza comparable to a Jersey Pizzeria and best bread to go with it. RIP man!
While I didn’t know you I do know that your son is one of the coolest cats I know. Since you fathered him and raised him right I can only imagine how cool you would’ve been to chat with this summer, I’m afraid I will never get that chance and it saddens my heart knowing that. My condolences to the family.
Was privileged to work with Steve for four years. He honestly cared about everything and everyone. Always willing to share his knowledge and his wry sense of humor, he was a source of positive energy for the team . We lost a very good man. May his family find comfort and his memory be a blessing forever.
Steve you will truly be missed and never forgotten. Your sincere heart in helping people no matter how petty the task. Thanks for all you shared from work to the love you expressed for your family and the talks of the vacations you enjoyed with them. I’ll miss you posting comments about Cisco and Toby. Praying for your family during this difficult time. RIP Steve.
Steve you will truly be missed. All of those vacations with a printed itinerary down to every minute of the day (he never thought vacations were for relaxing) all these years of you yelling at me because I’m working and all these years of you giving me the bird will be really missed. But I knew you were really happy to see me even though you never wanted to admit it. Its unfortunate I will never receive an itemized bill from you again. I will pick up where you left off & make sure your soul mate is well taken care of as well as your kids. I know you’d do the same for me. Gone but never forgotten ? I love you always Your favorite sister in law…
It was a privileged working with Steve. He will remembered as Steve #1 in G081 area. Working almost 5 years in the section Steve is the comedian of the team and the team need a laugh sometimes when different moments don’t go well. I hope everyone in the team will remember Steve all the happy thoughts, memories and laughters. My deepest sympathy and condolences to Steve’s wife and family and praying for God’s comfort and His peace.
Steve you were a super hero to so many of us in the USAF and G081 community. I know you were always bombarded with emails day after day, and you took the time to answer every email and telephone call that came your way. You made each of us (including me your trouble maker *smile*)feel important. I’ll miss our chats through email, on the phone, and at the conference. I’m praying for your family and friends during this time.
To the Mitchell Family, Steve’s co-workers, friends and all whose lives he impacted during his years of dedicated Military and Civil Service:
I don’t believe Steve and I ever had an opportunity to meet in person, but his e-mail communications to ‘Schedulers’ as the Command G081 (maintenance information system) Manager were an integral part of my job in the 302 MXG/Plans, Scheduling and Documentation office at Peterson AFB, CO for the past 17 years.
Receiving news of his passing was quite a blow for me as I had just had an e-mail conversation with him 7-8 Jan 21 where he helped me resolve an issue with a main landing gear strut for one of my unit’s C-130H aircraft. He was so knowledgeable about everything G081 and would take time to not only fix issues, but also explain what caused the issue, so we could adapt our processes to avoid repeating the error in the future.
He was unpretentious and always ready to help. He only used an official ‘signature block’ on his initial e-mail. Once you replied to provide information or ask for assistance, he simply signed all of the back and forth of the resulting conversation as ‘Steve’.
Please accept my heartfelt sympathy to all who were blessed to have had him in their life. He will be missed!
On behalf of GDIT, we send the Mitchell family our condolences for the loss of Steve. Not only was he a colleague of ours but to many he was a friend. We thank you for the time that he spent with us and may he rest in peace.
Deepest sympathy to the Mitchell family. I had the pleasure to know Steve and work with him quite a few years ago, we were even next-door neighbors when we were both active duty at Scott AFB. If you look up G081 (or as some may say GO-81) in any dictionary or manual, there is a picture of Steve (or at least there should be). He was good at what he did and was super helpful to everyone. Dear Estelle and kids, grand kids – BIG hugs, love, and prayers sent your way! This was a big loss to family, friends, co-workers for sure, but I can see Steve with a smile and a little chuckle saying “you can do it – keep going guys”.