Steven Alan Holtzman

Steve was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 13, 1946, a descendent of grandparents who had immigrated to the United States from Russia. When he was a child, he lived with his family in different parts of New York including Brooklyn, Queens, and Massapequa Park (Long Island). His father died when he was 15 years old. Early on, he developed his lifelong love of music, starting with the accordion (which he hated) and moving on to the clarinet and saxophone.

Steve attended the University of Pittsburg, and was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. His college education was interrupted by his service in the United States Army, during the Vietnam War. He served from January 1967 to November 1969, with Company A 1st Battalion 5th Cavalry of the First Air Cavalry Division. He was wounded in February 1969 and returned to the field in March. He was released by the Army as a Captain in the 90’s.

In December 1967, he married Louise Julia Duran, his college sweetheart, who died April 6, 1975 of breast cancer.

In November 1980, after finishing his master’s degree, he moved to Southern California. In 1981 he began working at AquaServ Inc., an industrial water treatment company, where he formed a close friendship with his future business partner Dan Earley. They both left AquaServ in 1998 and started their own industrial water treatment company ACT (Advanced Chemical Technology, Inc.) with offices in California and Arizona. Steve was a board member of the professional organization AWT (Association of Water Technologies).

On Oct. 15, 1983, Steve married Robin Chasteen and raised her two sons as his own. He participated in Indian Guides, baseball, was a soccer coach, spent time camping, and encouraged Liam’s interest in computers.

Steve loved the ocean and sailing. He developed a passion/obsession for kayaking and could be found on the ocean every Sunday morning. He was the president of the California Kayak Friends and his enthusiasm became an example for others. He also loved astronomy, a passion he shared with many friends. With “encouragement” (no one ever dies wishing they had worked more) from his wife, Robin, he developed a love for adventure travel including a return trip to Vietnam in 2008, which he began reluctantly but ultimately found to be cathartic and healing. Thanks to the internet, he renewed contact with the men with whom he had served with in Vietnam--friends whom he later encouraged to return to Vietnam as well.

Steve loved dogs. He never wanted to spend a day without his dogs. He found it ironic that after marrying into a family with ADD, he actually wound up with a dog that had ADD.

For all his friends and family, he was – as a lover of gadgets – the “go-to guy” for any computer questions. He was also the “go-to guy” when someone needed a good friend.

Steven Alan Holtzman is survived by his wife Robin, his son Liam (a senior software engineer) and wife Iris, their children Gray and Lena, his son Burke (an active member of the U.S. Army’s Green Berets), his sister Rona, his mother Esta Walters, his many nieces and nephews, and countless others from his extended family and circle of friends.

Steven was my rock and I will miss him forever. Robin