- Date Of Birth: January 15, 1948
- Date Of Death: June 9, 2020
- State: Illinois
After an extremely hard battle with cancer “Amigo” age 72, passed away at home on Tuesday June 9, 2020.
Steve was born in Santa Cruz CA on January 15th 1948. He was the son of John Mendonsa and Doris (Francis) Tritz.
He graduated from N. Salinas High School in 1966 and joined the U.S. Navy Reserves out of Monterey CA in 1967. From 1968 to 1970 he had 2 tours of duty in Vietnam and Korea sailing aboard the USS Higbee DD806 as both a Sonarman and Supply Petty Officer for the Weapons Division. He was awarded the National Defense Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal with 3 Bronze Stars, the Armed Forces Expedition Medal and was eligible for the Silver Star Banner.
After the Navy, Steve moved to the Quad Cities and was the parts manager for Long MFG for 3 years. In 1973 he became a car salesman for Mills Chevrolet and later Warren Chevrolet.
Steve married Debbie Blubaugh (Littlefield) in 1976 and they had 2 beautiful daughters, Danielle Reid and Dana (John) O’Connor. The family moved to Galesburg in 1978 where Steve became the General Manager for Town & Country Dodge.
In 1980 he began his career as an insurance salesman. He worked for the Dredge Ins. Agency, the Miller Dredge Agency and for 30 years for Chuck Hay Ins. which later became Porter Hay Ins.
Steve was a member of the Knight of Columbus, the American Legion, the Galesburg Home Builders and the Weekenders Golf League. He is survived by his daughters Danielle and Dana, Four grandchildren Bryce and Seth Reid, Liam and Molly O’Connor, and the Love of his Life for 17 years Kathy Johnson along with her children, Christian Templeton, Anthony Templeton, Noelle Thompson, Camille Johnson and Kaman Johnson and all her grandchildren.
Steve loved life, family and making people smile!! He will be greatly missed by all.
