Stephen Bass

Steve Bass, 74, of Lake Worth, Fla., died at home on the morning of July 4 after a 6-year battle with cancer. He faced his diagnosis of multiple myeloma like everything else, with scientific inquisitiveness, humor, and pragmatism.

Bass was born in Ponca City, OK, on Dec. 27, 1943. As a child in the rural southwest, Steve learned to love the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing with his Dad and grandparents. He raised sheep as a member of the Future Farmers of America and learned about livestock and organic gardening from his parents. Steve loved music and singing and performed in his high school plays, “Annie Get Your Gun” and “Kiss Me Kate.” He attended Abilene Christian College and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Oklahoma State University. He attended the University of Florida and received his master’s degree in ecology from the University of Dayton.

Steve was fascinated with science and shared what he learned with everyone around him. Early in his career, he taught high school science in Everglades City, Fla. Steve worked for the National Audubon Society in Ohio and New York at the beginning of the environmental movement. In the 1960’s Steve participated in early sea turtle research in the southeastern U.S. and Mexico under Dr. Archie Carr. He also assisted with research on amphibians in South America, and rattlesnakes in West Texas.

Steve and his family settled in Lake Worth in 1977, where his wife Val owned and managed Bass Nursery for 30 years. After moving to Florida, Steve quickly became passionate about the flora and fauna of South Florida. He touched the lives of thousands of Palm Beach County School children through outdoor programs in Belle Glade, at the Jupiter Marine Science Center, Okeeheelee Nature Center, and finally as the director of Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, FL, where he worked for 22 years.

Working with the Palm Beach County School District, Steve also shared his passion for the environment by training school teachers to incorporate science education through the use of outdoor classrooms. He reached hundreds more through the development of a master naturalist program with the University of Florida in 2001. In 2014, after several years of teaching in the master naturalist program, he was honored with the Distinguished Instructor Career Service Award.

Steve was willing to talk to any group, no matter how large or small, about the ecology and natural history of South Florida. For several years he had a local TV program, Palm Beach County Naturescope, which covered diverse topics of local ecology and natural history. Some episodes can be found on YouTube.com. Steve also co-wrote several local field guides to Florida plants and habitats.

Steve enjoyed camping, fishing, hunting, canoeing, photography, and raising native subtropical plants and fruit trees. Until his illness, Steve spent autumns in the Hudson Valley, where he spent many hours in the woods observing nature and occasionally bagging a deer. Steve avidly explored his family’s genealogy, tracing his family tree back to the 1600s and the Jamestown colony. He also researched his Cherokee lineage and Native American history. He was a proud member of the Cherokee Nation.

A lifelong student of science, ecology, Mayan culture, literature, music, history, and poetry, Steve’s near photographic memory, avid reading, and varied interests made him a formidable opponent at Trivial Pursuit and Jeopardy. But he was most proud of the role he played in the preservation of over 30,000 acres of natural areas acquired by Palm Beach County. He was the chairperson of the Palm Beach Natural Areas Management Advisory Committee from 1994 to 2004. Just a few of the dozens of public natural areas that were opened during this time include High Ridge Scrub, Limestone Creek, Royal Palm Beach Pines, and Snook Islands.

The Steve Bass Memorial Account has been established to help preserve, protect, and maintain the beauty and natural open spaces of Palm Beach County. Donations to the account should be made out to the Palm Beach County Board of Commissioners, with Steve Bass Memorial Account in the memo, and sent to the family or directly to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 2300 Jog Road, West Palm Beach, FL 33411.

Steve is survived by his father, Wayne Bass, 98, of Ponca City; his wife of 50 years, Valerie Bass, of Lake Worth; a daughter, Shannon Bass Miller, and son-in-law, Dan Miller of Red Hook, New York, and a son, John Bass of Lake Worth, FL. He has two grandchildren, Haley Miller, 21, and Hudson Miller, 18. He was pre-deceased by his mother, Nona Chandler Bass. In his extended family and through marriage, there are dozens of nieces, nephews, and other young people who he taught and mentored, always generously sharing his time and love of nature.