Kenneth E. Steinbach

Survived by his loving wife of 63 years Betty Steinbach, sister Lorraine Kuykendall; sister in-law Burnell Steinbach; brother in-law Kenneth Bickner; children Kathryn (David De Lira) Steinbach; Stanley (Cindy) Steinbach ; Connie (Ron Talley) Steinbach; Sherri Steinbach; Kenneth Steinbach Jr; seven grandchildren Matthew, Kristen (Alex), Rachel, Kayla, Kyle, Alan and Peter; and three great-grandchildren Ryan, Holden and Brooklyn. He was predeceased by his parents Frank and Mary Steinbach, brothers Donald, Stanley (Patricia), Frank (Betty) and Lloyd; sisters Loretta (John) Harding, Marcedes (Merlin) Kendall, and Patricia Bickner.

Ken grew up in Minnesota and was an altar boy at an early age and a member of the Catholic Church throughout his lifetime. He enjoyed playing basketball, baseball and football in High School and then enlisted into the Navy and served from 1950 to 1954. Ken was a loving husband and devoted father to his five children and raised his family in California where he worked in the aerospace industry for his entire career. He was very proud of all of his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and loved them dearly. He enjoyed watching their sports, school plays, singing adventures and all activities they were involved in. He loved sports and cheered on both the Oakland A’s and the San Francisco Giants.

We cherish the many family traditions he instilled in us and will always be remembered for. This included going to church every Sunday; saying prayers before dinner; asking each person at the table how their day was; reading a bible verse before opening Christmas gifts and celebrating/giving toasts. Ken enjoyed his snacks/sweets; card games including 500 which typically involved his high betting (one too many Kenny) ; bowling; occasional casino late night/early morning breakfasts; jogging at River Park in Lompoc and most of all spending time with his family.

Ken loved to laugh, talk, engage others and make everyone feel comfortable and included. He was a kind, generous, smart and funny man with a huge heart… he was and will always be our hero. He had a fun loving personality and even though he lost the ability to verbally communicate in his last months he still shared his love for life and fun in his expressions and hand gestures.