“He was always so zealous and honorable in fulfilling his compact with me, that he made me zealous and honorable in fulfilling mine with him.”
Charles Dickens, ‘Great Expectations’
Steve was industrious. And energetic. And his enthusiasm was infectious. And these qualities were evident – as a child and as an adult.
As a kid, Steve was passionate about many things – and all things sports. One story came out of his love for baseball and anything L.A. – which manifested as Dodger baseball mania. After moving to Boise, ten year old Steve with his neighbor and good friend, Joel, would often tune their transistor radios to an L.A. sports station and listen, through the static, to the play-by-play action of the Dodger games. Joel had caught Dodger fever from Steve. The two would listen intently to the games, make note of the stats and trivia, and then, as soon as the game ended, they’d call the local Boise radio station and report the final score and interesting trivia to announcer Paul J Schneider. And, much to their delight, Paul J would broadcast their reports to all of his Treasure Valley listeners. If Paul J knew that his news source was two little kids, he never let on – and through that he fed their passion and allowed them have their exciting moments of invisible notoriety.
As an adult, Steve continued to be industrious and energetic, and his enthusiasm continued to be infectious. He was energetic about his work, his family, his friends, his sports, his faith, and all of his countless activities. And in the summer of 2013, he had a unique opportunity to spread his enthusiasm to his daughter, Karlie.
Karlie had returned to Boise for a summer Marketing Internship at Simplot. She’d worked hard for the opportunity – internships were generally awarded to students after their junior year of college, and Karlie had just completed her sophomore year. The competition was tough, and Steve had left Karlie to do this on her own, he didn’t request any special treatment. But Karlie was determined.
At that point, Steve had been with Simplot for 25 years. And throughout her life, Karlie had heard many wonderful things about the company. She’d always admired her Dad’s dedication to his job and Simplot, and she wanted to intern where he worked. Incredibly, after a series of interviews, Karlie received an offer. She had succeeded in winning the coveted Simplot Marketing Internship, and she was ecstatic. There would be two Andrews spending the summer of 2013 working in the J.R. Simplot Corporate Office in downtown Boise!
That summer was special for both. They had fun carpooling to work every day, meeting up for lunch a few times a week, and driving home after work together, telling stories about their day. Steve was proud of Karlie, and Karlie was proud to tell her co-workers that Steve Andrews was her Dad.
Karlie soon learned that everyone at Simplot knew Steve, and all had wonderful things to say about him. Just hearing his name brought smiles – he truly brought joy into every environment that he was in. It made Karlie feel very good to be an Andrews!
One evening, on their drive home from work, Steve brought up Boise’s Quest for the Capitol triathlon that was coming up in about a month. Several years earlier, the race had been one of Steve’s first triathlons, and he was looking forward to competing in it again. Karlie understood that triathlons were a huge passion of her Dad’s, he lived, breathed, slept triathlon. She was always impressed with how dedicated he was to the sport. Since she loved just about everything her Dad loved, she thought maybe she should give it a try? That very day she told him that she wanted to do the Quest for the Capitol as her first triathlon and she’d love to have his help training for the race. Steve couldn’t have been more excited.
Over the next few weeks they swam, biked, and ran whenever they could. On their lunch breaks at Simplot they would go across the street and run on the greenbelt. And after work they would fit in a bike ride or swim.
Karlie became just as hooked on the training as Steve – she had caught the triathlon bug. On race day she felt amazing, and being out there in the same race as her Dad, doing something he had loved for many years and feeling his passion for the sport was special. And after the race, as Steve and Karlie rested in the grass, listening to the announcer name off the age group winners, they had the added thrill of hearing both of their names called. The cherry on top of a great day – they both won a medal for placing in their age groups. For both, father and daughter, it was an amazing day.
The Steve and Karlie triathlon story didn’t end with the Quest for the Capitol. Karlie spent the rest of the summer preparing for a second triathlon – Emmett, Idaho’s olympic distance triathlon. This race required a bit more training and, although he wasn’t able to compete, Steve gave Karlie excellent guidance on her training, and all the support a new competitor could ever hope for. They worked hard all day at Simplot and then trained together after work and on the weekends. They grew even closer that summer, and those three months were a very special time.
CaringBridge Post
And we’re off to Houston….Give us Power!
By Steve Andrews — Jul 9, 2013 10:59pm
Today was another good day in my fight against cancer. My results from last week’s scan were very encouraging. There is no new growth to the tumors in my liver and the abdomen. And my pancreas looks normal. The small nodules in my lungs are slightly larger than the previous scans (still very small). We plan to go after these with a new round of chemo starting next week. The doctor is optimistic that the chemo will be successful. Tomorrow we head to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The purpose of the trip is to get more input on how to continue the fight against my cancer. The timing is right given I recently finished my 12 rounds of FOLFOX chemo treatments. We are scheduled to meet with some of the top Gastric Cancer doctors in the country. I personally know two people who were diagnosed with my cancer in 2008 that went to MD Anderson. They are both alive today and doing well. On June 29th I competed in the Quest for the Capitol triathlon. It was an emotional day for me as I had many friends cheering me on. The conditions were tough (close to 100 degrees and hilly) but I finished!!! Last week Julene, Karlie, and I visited Michael in San Jose. We were busy as we went to the City (San Francisco) on three consecutive days: Biked over the Golden Gate Bridge, toured Alcatraz, and watched a Giants – Dodgers baseball game. One night we had a fabulous dinner at Cousin Fred and Gary’s home in San Francisco. On our last day we watched Michael dominate on his city league basketball game. It was great having the entire family together for a few days. Faith continues to be a driving force in my healing process. Prior to my last scan we had a Prayer Circle at MSTI. We had about 25 people attend! It was a very emotional and powerful experience. I want to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers. Special recognition goes out to the Elders at Foothills Christian Church for their continued support and prayers. And a big thank you goes out to my Wednesday Bible Group who continues to show their love and support. My Simplot work family continues to be amazing and supportive. I’m so blessed to work with an organization that truly cares about its employees. I feel the love every time I go into the office. Thank you, Simplot! Luke 1:37 says “For with God nothing will be impossible”. I believe in God. I believe in miracles.
Steve
