I had the opportunity to work under Dr. Hecht for several semesters. He was a devoted husband and father. His legacy will live on in all of his students and those who had the honor of getting to know him. I wish I could thank him for all of the time, effort and the impact he had on my life. My prayers are with his family.

I was sorry to hear of Steve's passing. He was a classmate from York High School. Sympathy and prayers lifted to all of his family during this sad time. Please cherish all your memories of him as you face the days ahead.

Steve was a great colleague and good friend from the time he first joined the Biomedical Sciences res Dept. in the late 1990's. He was nearly unmatched in his love of his profession, his devotion to the university, and his admiration and love of his students. He passed away far too soon and he is and will be deeply missed.

Steve was a dear friend and brother in Christ. I knew Steve from Emporia State University and our involvement with Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship. A fond memory was the semester a group of us took a square dancing class. We wore our red and white checkered shirts to class and afterwards went to lunch. Steve loved this class! Steve was a rock solid man following his Lord Jesus Christ which he did to his last day. I admired the love and the dedication he had for his wife Jodi with her health concerns. Jodi, Eric, Harry, and Muriel, my thoughts and prayers are with you and I will continue to pray for Jodi.

Your life was taken way to early my dear cousin. You had so much left to do, yet accomplished so much. I used to love playing with you and your sister Muriel when you lived in York, NE. We always laughed so much and I can still hear your voice and laugh. The holidays were always such fun times.

I'll always think of Steve as "Dr. Hecht." He was one of my professors at GVSU, and I took his virology class. He asked us to make large paper models of viruses to help us learn what a virus capsid looked like. He would collect our viruses, and, as I learned while visiting him during office hours one day, would decorate his office with them-a clear sign of how much he enjoyed teaching and how much he cared about his students. We kept in touch over the years via email (and more recently, Twitter), and when I made it back to Michigan to visit my family, I'd always make a trip up to GVSU and pop my head in to see if he was in his office. The last time I saw Dr. Hecht was in May of 2013, at an American Society for Microbiology meeting in Denver, CO. He visited my poster, and we had lunch together to catch up. I'm going to be in Michigan next week, and was looking forward to visiting him while in town. Dr. Hecht's friends and family are in my thoughts and prayers, most especially his wife-whom it was very clear that he loved very, very much.

Steve was a co-worker and friend. My deepest sympathy to his family. He was a wonderfully kind and gentle person.

Steve and I were classmates in grade school through high school. He invited me to Vacation Bible School. We played a lot of ping pong in their garage. We were in 4H together and in the same Scout troop. In 1976 he and I spent the summer together, working in a North Dakota charcoal briquet factory half the summer to earn the money to drive to Alaska and back the second half... a Good Friend who was always willing to discuss significant matters!

Steve was a "work friend" at GVSU and I will miss the discussions we had when we ran into each other. We talked about teaching writing-in-the-majors, family work-life issues, and kids. He was a proud and enthusiastic father and I enjoyed asking about his son's experiences at Michigan Tech. It is difficult to believe that we have lost him so soon. He was a force for good in his everyday interactions with me.

OBITUARY

Steven John Hecht

19 April, 1956 – 5 April, 2017

Cook Funeral and Cremation Services

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