Stephen Corey Blouch

May 7, 1945 - April 3, 2022

Stephen Corey Blouch passed away peacefully on April 3, 2022 in Boulder, Colorado. After a 24 year-long battle with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML). He made this journey with his loving wife, June, by his side. They were together holding hands, when he slipped into eternity, never to be forgotten bythose who had the privilege of knowing and loving him.

Steve was born to Don and Marguerite Blouch in Seattle, Washington on May 7, 1945 where Don worked for Boeing Aircraft Corporation building B-17 bombers during World War II. After the war, the family returned to Colorado, where most of their respective families were living. Don established and operated the Riverside Garage with Willy's Jeep and International Harvester dealerships in the town of Hot Sulphur Springs in Grand County.

It was here, working beside his father, Steve fell in love with all things mechanical. They spent many hours together building and repairing vehicles. This is where Steve developed his mechanical abilities. Steve mentioned his father bought a 1939 Ford which they restored together. They tore it down to the bare-frame and put in a big V-8 engine for more power. Shortly after the restoration his Dad sold the hot-rod so both of his sons wouldn't drive it and get into trouble.

He completed kindergarten through the eighth grade at the four-room Hot Sulphur Springs Elementary School and graduated from Middle Park High School in 1964. In high school he was active in varsity sports of football, basketball and wrestling. He was an avid recreational skier. He was an honors student and was inducted into the National Honor Society. After graduation he attended the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he majored in mechanical engineering.

While still in college, Steve was hired by Ball Aerospace in Boulder as a lab technician. He said he loved working there and felt privileged to have such a good job to help with the cost of attending college. At Ball Aerospace he assisted in building and designing the tooling for the Sky Lab program. Later, he worked in the Celestial Navigation Group building Star Trackers, which were navigational instruments for the space shuttle program. He had the opportunity to travel to Cape Kennedy to calibrate the instruments on the space shuttles themselves. He was thrilled to see the actual shuttle launch of the Space Station. He traveled back and forth to Houston for over two years working at the Johnson Space Center maintaining the Star Tracker instruments and running the gathered data. There, in the Gulf of Mexico, he said he learned to sail, a sport he enjoyed the rest of his life.

During two layoffs from Ball Aerospace, he took a job with Rocky Mountain Motorcycles in Boulder as their parts manager and sometime mechanic. Steve always had a passion for motorcycles-not only for riding them, but also for rebuilding and fine tuning them. Later, in 1985, Steve was hired by Dan Bills, the President of Grandville Phillips, where he would enjoy over 30 years of employment. Grandville Phillips is an advanced technology engineering company which develops high pressure vacuum gauge measurement systems. Steve contributed to many inventive products and patents and successfully filed several United States Patent Applications. His work is still far reaching even today. Granville Phillips sold over 400 pressure gauges to be integrated into the Hadron Super Collider, the powerful particle accelerator near Geneva, Switzerland.

Later, in 1985, Steve was hired by Dan Bills, the President of Grandville Phillips, where he would enjoy over 30 years of employment. Grandville Phillips is an advanced technology engineering company which develops high pressure vacuum gauge measurement systems. Steve contributed to many inventive products and patents and successfully filed several United States Patent Applications. His work is still far reaching even today. Granville Phillips sold over 400 pressure gauges to be integrated into the Hadron Super Collider, the powerful particle accelerator near Geneva, Switzerland.

Steve will be remembered as a true Renaissance man. As an enthusiastic outdoorsman, he delighted and excelled at a variety of outdoor activities, including skiing, hang-gliding, running, hiking, climbing, cycling, motorcycle riding and sailing. In addition to participating in each sport, he endlessly strived to become knowledgeable and accomplished in each sport.

Most of us take technology for granted. When handed a device we're content to enjoy it's benefits and if we reflect at all on how it operates, that consideration is casual and short lived as our attention shifts to other things. Stephen did not take technology for granted. His most frequent reaction to a new device was to ask about how it worked, and then he'd dart down into his well-stocked workshop to fetch the proper gadget to take it apart. Afterward he would usually share his newly found knowledge with those closest to him. He had a flair for giving science lessons. Steve had a wide-ranging curiosity and love of learning.

Growing up in the small town of Hot Sulphur Springs, with a ski hill at the edge of the town, offered him the opportunity to ski almost every day as a child. He learned to ski on Maggie's Hill with a rope tow at the age of 5 or 6 years old. He skied on the Winter Park Ski team in High School and got the opportunity to try out for the University of Colorado ski team, but his rigorous engineering studies took precedence over skiing. Steve enjoyed skiing the rest of his life, for over 60 years and looked forward to each new ski season. He mentioned that he wanted to keep skiing so one day he would get a free ski pass as a Senior. But he laughed when the ski area management kept raising the age limits each year. When he was working at Ball Aerospace, he'd participate in the Night Hawk ski races at Eldorado Ski area not far from Boulder. And with his backcountry ski buddies he trekked into a majority of the 10th Mountain /Division huts over a period of years. He returned home with hilarious stories to share about cooking with everyone over a hot wood stove, the hours of fun conversations and of course the freezing out-house experiences in the middle of night. Steve will be remembered for his famous Hut Margarita recipe.

Cycling was another life-time passion for Steve. He was a tireless bicycle commuter and rode to work regardless of the weather, figuring out what tires he would put on his bike to make it happen. During the years when he was taking the leukemia drug Gleevec, he felt well enough to ride numerous Ride the Rockies tours. These were special days for him and he treasured every moment.

Early in his twenties Steve was influenced by a friend, Michael, to take up the sport of hang-gliding. Steve shared with me that he was intrigued with the sport because it was "a judgement sport” . Not only could it be mentally challenging, but a person's safety and life would be dictated by one's technical skills. He connected with a couple of local clubs and made another set of new friends. In the 1970's he prized himself with flying within the boundaries of Rocky Mountain National Park. He was one of four individuals who had written permission from the park service to actually launch their kites off Trail Ridge Road. During a visit last fall from one Steve's old friends nicknamed, "Orange", they laughed as they relived this event. I guess one of their friends had contact with someone high up in the management ranks at the National Park Service in Estes Park. A couple of times driving over Trail Ridge road Steve showed me where they launched. It's amazing the park service allowed them to fly in the park.

After they flew in Rocky Mountain Park no one was ever allowed to fly in the park again. Perhaps the Park Managers didn't think this was such a good idea? His aviation years ended abruptly when a few of his hang-gliding friends suffered serious physical injuries and a couple of them lost their lives.

Steve was a lucid and vivid dreamer. He would shake his wife awake in the wee hours of the night to have her listen to one of his dreams. A common dream was one where he was flying above the rugged mountains peaks where he would be soaring with eagles as his friends. He loved hang-gliding along the clouds and the birds. He had very descriptive and detailed dreams.

During his years at Grandville Phillips, his close friend, Charlie, offered to teach to rock climb. Steve took him up on his challenge and they climbed for a number of years together. At the end of their climbing years they set a goal of climbing the Grand Tetons in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They trained and prepared for this feat by scaling Long's Peak a couple of times and Hallett's Peak. In 1998 they accomplished their goal of climbing the Grand Tetons - they were successful!

Some of Steve's favorite road trips were on his motorcycle with his buddy Charlie and his brother Cleve. Their trips included traveling the majority of Colorado's mountain passes and plotting out the out-of-the-way back country roads. One of Steve's last excursions was with his friend Charlie to Wyoming to camp out and view the recent Total Solar Eclipse of the moon. They always had a blast together.

Both Steve and June loved traveling internationally as well as stateside. Early in their relationship in 1995, they traveled to Beijing, China to visit his friends Martyn and Carol who were living there at the time. They called this their first date. With Carol being competent in Mandarin Chinese, she plotted and lead them on an extensive months long trip through the country side of China. This was certainly a trip of a lifetime and an amazing first date. A couple of times they traveled to visit Martyn in the UK, where he still lives most of the year. While there, they spent time on the stunningly beautiful CornwaII coast touring and hiking. On other visits, Martyn took them sailing along other stretches of the rugged UK coast. The UK was one of Steve's favorite places.

Early on in their relationship you could find Steve and June camping and hiking in the Rocky Mountains and the canyon lands of southern Utah. Most every weekend you find them both skiing at Loveland Ski Area. This was one of their favorite shared passions. Steve even coaxed June to ride on the back of his BMW motorcycle for a few long road trips on the many backcountry dirt roads of Colorado. They took a couple of long trips in the fall when the Aspen trees were in their full glory. Those trips were especially memorable for them.

In the later years they enjoyed visiting family and friends and just hanging out with them. Since most of Steve's family members, including himself, were born in the month of May, they generally drive to Phoenix, so Steve could celebrate his birthday with the rest of his family. This turned out to be an annual event. And extra time was always taken to explore the canyon lands on these trips. As Steve' health became more compromised and he didn't have much energy, June drove Steve on long drives in the foothills and mountains surrounding Boulder and Estes Park, always bringing a picnic along to make the day more enjoyable. Spending time with Steve always meant learning something new.

Steve met and defined his final years with epic bike rides, fresh powder runs, long walks, stamina and grit, all with a sense of humor and grace. He was deeply loved by his wife, his family, his friends and his work associates.

Steve is survived by his beloved wife, June Brennan-Blouch of Boulder, CO, his younger brother Cleve Blouch and his wife Janice-Oden Blouch of Mesa, AZ and their daughters Carey Blouch and her daughter Corinne Blouch of Chandler, AZ, their second daughter Cora Blouch of Phoenix, AZ and cousins Don Phillips and his family of Montrose, CO and relatives Lisa Hakonson of Lakewood, CO and Jerry Blouch of Delta, CO.

A private family service as already been held for Steve. The family is planning to scatter his ashes in the fall when the Aspens peak on Maggie's Hill, in Hot Sulphur Springs, where he learned to ski in his youth. He was always happiest and most at home in the mountains.

A Celebration of Life is being planned for the fall.

His wife, June would like to express her gratitude to the wonderful doctors, nurses and staff at the Rocky Mountain Cancer Center and to the number of other physicians and medical staff who provided such great care and support for him over the years. Thank you for your warm and compassionate care of both of us during Steve's long illness. Bless you all.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared with the family at www.cristmortuary.com. A full obituary about Steve's life will be shared on the same website.

The family asks that you consider a donation in honor of Steve to his favorite non-profit, Doctors Without Borders. Donations can be made to doctorswithoutborders.org or you may call them at (877) 549-1686.

Steve would want to say to all of us: Put down your phones, go to a beautiful place, sit quietly there to capture the moment to make it meaningful. And most of all take time to be with those you love. Time is the elephant in the room. Use it wisely.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cristmortuary.com for the Blouch family.