Steve is survived by his wife, Susan Dauenhauer; his three children, Jay Dauenhauer (Ashley) of Charlotte, N.C., Jennifer Warren (Chris) of Atlanta, Ga., and Jordan Beeman (Dennis) of Benton; his four grandchildren, Paxton Beeman, John Robert Beeman, Caden Warren and Cooper Warren; his three step children, Beau Raines (Leigh) of Shreveport, Russell Raines of Chicago, Ill., and Christina Raines of Shreveport; his six step-grandchildren, Drew Raines, Jake Raines, Luke Raines, Annie Raines, Jace Smith, and Callie Jones; and his three siblings, Oscar Dauenhauer, Jr., Errol Dauenhauer, and Carolyn Dauenhauer, who all reside in the Jackson, Miss. area.
Dr. Dauenhauer was born Oct. 26, 1948, to Oscar and Amelia Dauenhauer, in Gretna, LA. Upon graduating from high school in 1966, he joined the U.S. Air Force, first at LSU, where he earned his bachelor's degree in microbiology, and then full time until 1974 in Munitions Systems, while earning both his Master's degree and Ph.D in microbiology from the University of Southern Mississippi. After leaving active service, Dr. Dauenhauer returned to reserve duty, acting at Barksdale’s 2nd Medical Group Hospital and Keesler Air Force Base Medical Center. In 1991, he was called into active duty for support operations in Operation Desert Storm. He fully retired from the Air Force in 2008 as a Colonel.
Since 1985, Dr. Dauenhauer has served as Director of Microbiology of the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center in Shreveport. In 2019, Steve and Susan also served on the Electronic Health Record Modernization Committee for modernizing veteran's care records. In addition to the VA, Dr. Dauenhauer served as a microbiology lab consultant for Christus Good Shepherd, Longview Regional and Roy H. Laird Memorial Hospitals in East Texas.
Steve and Susan, longtime rail industry supporters, were members of the Texas Eagle Marketing and Performance Organization (TEMPO). They traveled extensively throughout the continental United States via rail and were advocates in promoting these adventures through TEMPO. They were also active members of Northpoint Methodist Church where Steve served on numerous leadership committees.
In 2012, on a whim, a colleague at the VA asked Steve to join for an extras casting call for Antoine Fuqua’s “Olympus Has Fallen (2013).” The request led to Dr. Dauenhauer landing a walk-on role in the War Room scenes alongside Morgan Freeman and Angela Bassett. Steve went on to land extra work in the WGN TV series “Salem (2014).” In 2016, Dr. Dauenhauer received SAG credentials for a role as the judge in Simon Rumley’s “Johnny Frank Garrett's Last Word.”
Visitation is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Thursday at Hillcrest Memorial Chapel in Haughton, with a ceremony to follow at 10:00 a.m. Brother Bill Foster will officiate the ceremony. Internment is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Friday at McDonoghville Cemetery in Gretna, LA. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Steve's life.
