Obituary of Steven Burch McBride

of Morgantown, W.Va., died after a brief illness on Saturday, September 12, 2015. He is preceded in death by his beloved wife of 36 years, Carol "Cokie" Meacham. He leaves behind his cherished family including son Sean (Eren) of Manhattan, KS, daughter Megan of Morgantown, and granddaughter Regan. He is also survived by sister Rosanne O'Hearne of Dover,NH; and brother Marc Carver of Atlanta, GA. Steve was born on January 12, 1943, in Windsor, VT, to the late Kenneth McBride and Kay Burch. Steve was the son-in-law to the late Carl and Jeanne Meacham of Elmira In 1965, Steve received his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from Syracuse University, where he met Carol on a blind date and later married her on June 15,1968. Following his graduation from Syracuse, he joined the United States Navy and graduated from OCS. He then left for service in Mobile Construction Battalion 8 (SeaBee) in the Republic of Vietnam after a cross country honeymoon drive. Following his service in Vietnam, he returned to school and attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he earned a Masters of Landscape Architecture degree. Steve and Carol lived in Lancaster and Pittsburgh, PA before settling in Morgantown, WV in 1976. He lived in Morgantown ever since, with a brief sabbatical back to his home state of Vermont in 1990 where he earned a Masters in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School. He recently retired from West Virginia University after dedicating more than 35 years to teaching and administration. Just as with his own children he sought to provide insight and guidance to the thousands of students he taught throughout his academic career and received several awards for teaching excellence. Steve was an avid runner and amateur gourmet chef. He once soundly defeated his Paratrooper son in a 10k race by more than five minutes (he was 55 years old at the time) and loved to push Megan to run an extra 2-3 miles with him, much to her surprise. He was a founding member of the South Park, South Hills and Greystone Gourmet Group and shared his love of food and fellowship with all who knew him. Steve was a voracious reader and all of our homes have stacks of books left behind from his many visits. His ability to complete the Sunday New York Times Crossword puzzle in pen still amazes us. Steve instilled a love of travel and adventure in his children, kept their minds open and challenged them daily to be good citizens. To know Steve and spend time with him was to experience the meaning of family, friends, tradition, and laughter, always laughter. Those of us touched personally by Steve will remember his compassion, generosity and his genuine interest in the people around him. Funeral services will be held at Trinity Episcopal Church, 304 N. Main Street, Elmira, on Friday, October 9, 2015, at 3:00 p.m. followed by burial in Woodlawn Cemetery.