Steven Scott Montague

Leonard and Joanne Montague were thrilled to meet their four and a half month old son in March 1971. He had been in foster care since he was born in Walla Walla, WA, on November 6th, 1970. They brought him home to Bellingham and named him Steven Scott Montague. His room was decorated with a circus theme including a clown that rode across a tight wire from one corner of the room to the other as well as a crocheted lion to lay on his single bed when he graduated out of his crib.

Steven was a busy boy growing up. He loved playing with his hot wheel cars on his race track and riding his tricycle. He’d take time out for his favorite peanut butter sandwich but would often fall asleep with his head in the peanut butter. It was naptime.

When Steven was three and attending pre-school, his language was not developing as well as other three year olds. He began speech therapy at Western Washington State College and cooperated for a hearing test when he was four. It was found that he had a nerve loss from birth and would need to wear hearing aids for the rest of his life. During that spring, he participated in a pre-kindergarten class especially for hearing impaired children about two blocks from his home. Also, that spring his baby sister came to live with the family. She was named Laura Louise Montague.

June of 1976, the family moved to Boise, ID where they lived for four years. During that time the family met special friends, Al and Joyce Hornish and their two daughters through church choir. Together the two families built a cabin near Cascade, ID. They didn’t get to enjoy it very much as the Hornishes moved to Wisconsin and Montagues moved to Spokane, WA. While building the cabin, Len and Al repaired five Kawasaki dirt bikes that had been in a fire. When they were done, they looked like new. Since the cabin was in the forest near Cascade, the bikes were used on the mountain roads and trails. Five bikes: two for Al & Joyce and two for Len & Joanne and one Kawasaki 100 for Steven (age 7 and 8 then). Steve enjoyed riding his own bike tipping over occasionally but never getting hurt.

While living in Spokane, cross-country skiing and sledding became fun winter sports; springtime brought running & walking the seven mile annual Bloomsday race. In the summer sliding down a sheet of plastic in the sloped backyard brought lots of fun for Steve. He also enjoyed swimming and playing in the water on the shore of Lake Cocolalla where his Grandma and Grandpa lived. He would ice skate on the frozen lake in the winter when Grandpa removed the snow with his snowblower. Grandma saved ice skates of various sizes so everyone could skate.

Steve participated in building a second cabin by hammering nails and getting materials when needed. During his teen years, he collected comic books, baseball and football cards and rock music cd’s. He rode his skateboard and his bicycle everywhere and even rode his bike from Redmond to Everett one day. His legs were so worn out that he said he wasn’t doing that again!

Steve struggled throughout his school years with all of his special-ed classes. He graduated from Lake Washington High School in June 1989.

When Steve had a paper route carrying newspapers in an over-the-shoulder bag while riding his bike, he came home one day with a beautiful part Maine Coon cat in the bag. Inquiring further, it was discovered that the family was moving and couldn’t take the cat with them. So when they asked Steve if he wanted a cat, Steve was delighted with a definite “YES” unbeknown to his parents. A neighbor girl came to Steve’s Mom and said, “Joey Ann, Steve’s got a cat”, thinking he was going to get into trouble. When the family saw the cat, they knew they had to keep him. Steve named him “cuddles” and adored him throughout his 15 years. He was a wonderful cat, smart, playful, and easy to love.

As a teenager, Steve collected football and baseball cards as well as had a collection of comic books which included #1 Transformers. He would watch every baseball or football game that was possible on TV.

After high school Steve had so-called friends that encouraged him to take chances as well as introduced him to illegal drugs. It was not an easy time for his family as all they could do was love him and pray for him.

When Steve lived in Everett, he was hit by a car which sent him to the hospital for a month as one of his legs needed two titanium rods. That was followed by two months of rehab to relearn how to walk and build strength in his arm. He would say, “It was so much fun, I don’t want to do it again.”

Steve had several more cats over the years and treasured each one. He not only loved his cats but loved Skinny Pop popcorn, grapes, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, pizza, hot dogs, and mashed potatoes.

Steve was a very kind, sweet, caring man. So many people expressed what a pleasant person he was. He knew God was in charge of his life and would pray for various situations in his life. He endured so much throughout his life without complaining, always with a positive attitude. He was always appreciative of all he had.

Steve was loved and will be missed in our lives. His texts, phone calls, and lunches with family will all be missed. We love you, Steve, and you will always be in our hearts.