Steven Mark Mobley

Steven Mark Mobley passed away on September 17, 2023 from lymphoma. He was born on October 20, 1956 in Longview, Texas. He is preceded in death by his father John Allen Mobley III, son Andrew Pickett Mobley, and brother James Allen Mobley. He is survived by his mother Lois Ann Parker Mobley, wife of twelve years Carolyn Cheu Mobley, daughter Lisa Mobley Miller, son-in-law Nicholas Carpenter Miller, granddaughters Eliza Louise Miller, Mary Genevieve Miller, and Adelaide Virginia “Birdie” Miller, stepdaughter Margaret Victoria Cheu, stepson-in-law Adam John Ernst, and step-grandsons Henry Jack Cheu and Owen Alexander Cheu, all of Austin; stepson Henry Ross Cheu and his wife MacKenzie Jayne Cheu of Kerrville; nieces Mary Melissa Mobley of Dallas and Allison Mobley Clark of Houston; cousins Susan Mobley Patterson and her husband Gary Patterson of Hondo, Stephen Lewis Mobley and his wife Kim Mobley of Coppell, Joann Mobley Grooms and her husband Randy Grooms of Tyler, as well as many other cousins and grandnephews, grandnieces, uncles, aunts, and nieces.

Steve’s proudest business accomplishment was Buckeye Brine, a waste-services operation he founded and ran in Coshocton, Ohio. There he met, and assembled an extraordinary team, some uncommon individuals – hardworking, diligent, honorable, cohesive, and loyal. He remained awestruck by that team, and astonished himself that he was able to do it.

Steve enjoyed sailing on Lake Travis in his beloved Miss Ann, a 37-foot Bermuda sloop. He lamented the residential development of the once-quiet coves where he anchored, and when it got too much for him, he moved his primary loafing endeavors to the South Fork of the Guadalupe in Hunt, Texas. Carolyn made that property, with minimal energy input from him, into a beloved retreat in later years.

One day Steve stepped out of one too many museums and found himself a participant in the world of art, not just an observer. He became a lover of art history, either because of his lifelong love of history or his later-in-life fascination with art; he never was sure. When he and Carolyn met, they had come to art appreciation from different directions but came to have many mutual interests. They shaped many of their more memorable trips around art viewing opportunities.

Steve had an outsized passion for vintage movies, and although his tastes ran wide, he focused on the film noir classics of the forties and fifties. His favorite dramas were Casablanca, On the Waterfront, and The Bicycle Thief. He considered any friend who hadn’t seen The Big Lebowski at least once to live in a condition of film poverty.

Quietly, Steve usually had a fiction project underway. For him, writing was a constitutional requirement, not just a pleasurable activity. He had to do it, even if nobody ever saw the output. He started his first short story when he was 10 but didn’t finish his first one until he was 47. He rarely submitted for publication, which he considered an agonizing activity. He preferred to spend that time writing. His literary idol was Raymond Chandler.

This is the only published piece he ever wrote.

A memorial service will be held at 2 PM on Thursday, September 21, 2023 at Weed Corley Fish Funeral Home, 5416 Parkcrest Drive, Austin, TX 78731.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to relief efforts for Ukraine or the charity of your choice.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.wcfishnorth.com for the Mobley family.