5/8/1952 – 1/13/2019
Steven
George Blank was born May 8, 1952, the first of three children of George and
Margaret (Schmidt) Blank, in Norfolk, Nebraska. Steven attended elementary
school at Saint John’s Lutheran School Green Garden and graduated from Madison
High School in 1970.
At age
17, Steven was severely injured in a motorcycle accident which left him
partially paralyzed. Yet he was able to attend Concordia Teachers College in
Seward, Nebraska, graduating in 1974 with a Bachelor of Science degree in
Elementary Education. His first teaching assignment was in a one-room Lutheran
schoolhouse near Kramer, Nebraska and then at District 38 Miller School near
North Platte. He then switched careers for a time and worked as a bookkeeper
for Mid-States Irrigation Company in North Platte.
At
age 34, Steven moved to Southern California where he spent five years as an
elementary school teacher in several schools in the Los Angeles area. He spent
his summer breaks back in Nebraska working with his dad and brother on the
farm. Then in 1991 he decided to return to Nebraska to pursue a Special
Education Endorsement at Kearney State College.
Steven
married Sandy Curtis (Ernesti) on January 30, 1993 in Grand Island, Nebraska.
They lived on a small acreage north of Grand Island for five years where Steven
worked as a partner in a telecommunications company. He volunteered with
Habitat for Humanity where he helped build homes and also served as a board
member. He was very active in his church’s fundraising and building projects.
In
2002, Steven, Sandy and his step-daughter, Jessica, moved to Southern
California so Sandy could complete her doctoral degree. He spent the next
fifteen years working as an accounting associate at NALEO Educational Fund, a
nonprofit Latino political advocacy organization in Los Angeles, until he was
diagnosed with late-stage cancer in September 2017.
Steven
is survived by his wife of 25 years Sandy of Rancho Cucamonga, CA,
step-daughter Jessica (Paul) Simental of Omaha, NE, grandson Michael Simental
of Omaha, NE, brother Darwin (Karen) Blank of Madison, NE, sister Susan (Rory)
Swim of Springview, NE, niece Kadie (Chuck) Kruger of Crookston, NE, nephew Dr.
Eric Blank of Omaha, NE, and niece Karissa Blank of Madison, NE.
He
was preceded in death by his parents George and Margaret Blank.
Steven requested that memorials be made to World Vision.
Services are pending at this time.
