Steven Meredith South passed away early June 12th, 2020 after valiantly battling with the Coronavirus for a month. Steve was born December 13th, 1955 in Mount Ayr, Iowa to Howard and Merle South on a bitterly cold winter day. He grew up on the family farm outside of Arispe, Iowa helping his dad and brother with crops and tending to animals; pigs being his favorite because, as he said, “they’re really smart actually!” Steve graduated from East Union High school in 1974 and went on to get an associate’s degree from Southwestern Community College. Not too long after that he met Barb (Hysell) and, after thinking things over thoroughly, decided he liked her quite a bit and they should get married. The pair did marry on November 23rd, 1985 and then had 2 children, Meredith in ’87 and Matthew in ‘88. After living in Afton for a few years they eventually moved to Colfax where they would raise their family and make lots of wonderful memories.
Steve worked the majority of his life at Maytag in Newton and then Quality Manufacturing in Des Moines. He was a hard worker, but always made sure to take time to spend with his family. The South’s went on many adventures across the United States; visiting national parks, famous landmarks, driving endless miles in a tiny car, and just having fun in general! Steve liked the simpler things in life like watching TV and sleeping on the couch, but of course there was more to him than just that. He collected old Mountain Dew bottles, liked to go fishing and occasionally caught one, had fun going to the gun range and entering shooting competitions, and he occasionally could be found rocking out to Huey Lewis and the News, Styx, or some similar 70’s/80’s rock band (if you can believe it, in his younger days he had shoulder length hair, a motorcycle, and a muscle car). As they say, “Still waters run deep” and though Steve was gentle and somewhat reserved, that didn’t mean he wasn’t “present”. He was usually just listening and deciding what joke to tell in the next conversation. Steve was a kind, patient, and loving man who will be missed dearly.
Even though we wish Steve could have stayed with us, we know that he lived a joyful and very full life in his 64 years here! It wasn’t hard to get him smiling and that was because he was a happy person. It is going to be hard to live without him and we are going to shed tears, but he would not want us to be sad for him or think about his passing in a negative way. He is free now!
Steven is survived by his wife Barbara, his children Meredith South and Matthew South, his mother Merle South, his brother Phillip (Nancy) South, and a number of other relatives and close friends. He was preceded in death by his sweet father Howard South.
Visitation for Steve will be held on Friday June 19th, 2020 from 5-7pm at Grandview Church of Christ in Des Moines. A celebration of life will be held on Saturday June 20th at 11am with lunch to follow, also at Grandview Church of Christ. Burial/scattering of ashes will take place at a later date.
Memorials may be directed to the Grandview Church of Christ or the family.
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