Steve’s Obituary Notes written June 7, 2015 by Steve:
“I am writing this ‘Info’ to save time and confusion. I don’t like funerals, so make it short and get on with your lives!! Make it easy on all of the family. Have a party on me, or mom. She will have the money!”
Steve liked to hunt, watch the horse races, and play poker. He loved the Andy Griffith Show, and Kimball was his Mayberry. Any day the sun was shining, Steve could be found on the Four Winds Golf Course where during his golf career he made a hole in one twice! He was a sports enthusiast who enjoyed officiating football and basketball games; he was especially proud of officiating the girls state basketball tournament in Lincoln. Come rain or shine, Steve also reliably officiated spring track meets. (Long time Observer sports writer Tom Southard wrote, “Mr. Pattison is familiar with the sport of track and field having been highly sought as a starter at track meets throughout Western Nebraska.)
Steve was born March 12, 1945 to Wayne and Nelle Pattison in Scottsbluff, NE. He graduated high school in 1963 from Gering, NE, and followed in his mother’s footsteps as he attended Peru State College where he earned a B.S. in Education in 1967. He married Sharon Howard during college on January 1, 1965. Immediately following graduation, he moved his family to Jamaica, IA where he taught high school and coached football for the YJB (Yale, Jamaica, Bagley) school system. The family moved to Crawford, NE where Steve served as the Assistant Superintendent for the Crawford Rams while attending night class at Chadron State College where he obtained his Masters of Education in 1972. In Atkinson, NE he was the West Holt High Huskies principal for two years. In 1974, he began a 27 year tenure in the Kimball school systems—first as the Kimball Junior High principal and later administrating the Mary Lynch Elementary and West Elementary schools, too. In 34 years of education, Steve could be found at the top of the football stadium, in doorways of the gymnasiums, in the lunchroom, on the playgrounds, and supervising crosswalks.
Steve loved his family. He and his wife, Sharon, shared 61 years of marriage together and loved their children, Shelly (Kyle Rice) and Sam Pattison. He had two grandsons William (Brenna) and Wesley (Emily) Rice who were his greatest joys. William and Brenna made him a Great Grandpa when they added the twins, Jett and Judson, to the family. Other loved family members include his older brother Ron Pattison, and his children Rick (deceased), Jeff, and Peggy along with numerous extended family members.
Steve wrote in closing, “I had a good life! Too short in some ways, and I am sure too long in other ways! You all take care and move on. I love you!”...We love you too, Steve.
Services will be held on June 5 , 2026 at 10:30 a.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 601 S. Locust Street, Kimball, NE.
