Steve Semenoff, the son of William and
Polly Semenoff, passed away peacefully at his home on Sunday, April 4, 2010, at the age of 78.
Steve was born on October 22, 1931 in
Ootishcenia and resided in the area his
entire life. He grew up with one sister Marion and two brothers, Bill and Mike.
Steve was raised in Ootischenia where he received his education. He attended both Russian and English classes in the community.
At an early age he was always interested in building something. As kids they built their own sleds to go sledding in the hills. As a young teenager he built his own shop and started his collection of tools.
He enjoyed finding mischievous trouble with his childhood friends Steve Harsh-
enin, John Popoff, Bill Negreiff and Mike Davidoff.
He met his wife Betty, and they were married on December 8, 1956. They just
celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary.
Steve built their home in Ootischenia, where he and Betty continued to reside until his passing.
Together they were blessed with three children: Gordon, Andy and Sandra, all of whom he was very proud of.
They also were blessed with two grandchildren, Alexa and Connor. These kids meant the world to him. He was very devoted to his family. He was a warrior, taking his two boys fishing on the weekends. In 1986 due to unforeseen circumstances, Steve was forced to leave his job to be with his son Gordon in the hospital.
He spent 18 years with him in all the different hospitals. He persevered through some of the most incredibly trying times that a father could face. Not once did he waiver. He wholeheartedly gave up everything in his life to do anything he could to help not only Gordon, but the rest of his family as well. He was always there for them at any time and had a lot of advice to share.
Steve started working at an early age. He was 12 years old when he went to work
with his father during the summer holidays. They were building a radio communications tower on Old Glory in Rossland. This was a fond memory for Steve: even up to the day before his passing, he was telling his family the story. He was even interviewed by a local author, who is currently writing a story about this project.
He also went to work in the orchards at a young age. Also with his father he was
horse logging in the Slocan Valley. He worked on a lot of the local major construction projects, such as the Waneta Dam and the Nelson bridge. In 1956 he joined the Teamsters Union, where he worked on major hydroelectric projects and coal mines in the East Kootenays. Some of these projects were the 7 Mile Dam, Mica Creek Dam, High Arrow Dam and Revelstoke Dam. He also worked on many of the major highway projects in BC as a truck driver.
That did not seem to be enough for Steve: in between all these jobs he also mastered plumbing with Mike Tomlin. Together they worked on many of the houses in the area. Later in life he became a long-haul truck driver. He drove across Canada, Steve William Semenoff and even as far as California.
Gardening was definitely not one of Steve’s favorite pastimes. He would rather be busy in his shop. This was a busy shop. It opened very early in the morning and closed very late at night! He was very creative with his mind and hands. He was always trying to re-design the wheel. His favorite things to do were to design and build things. He enjoyed the mechanical aspect of how things worked. This included metal, wood and vehicles. People seemed to know this and were always stopping by so Steve could fix something for them. Steve was a very hard worker and extremely generous. He would help anyone with anything at anytime. Steve was a great storyteller. He would always find someone to share a story with. He had
a sharp mind and a good memory about things. Every morning he looked forward
to meeting with his friends to share some stories with at Arby’s over a cup of coffee.
During his quiet times he enjoyed reading and crossword puzzles.
Steve was predeceased by his son Gordon Semenoff, his brother Bill Semenoff and
his parents William and Polly Semenoff.
He is survived by his wife Betty Semenoff, son Andy Semenoff daughter Sandra
(Wayne) Jensen; grandchildren Alexa and Connor Jensen. He is also survived by
his sister Marion Demosky, brother Mike (Lillian) Semenoff, and many nieces and
nephews.
“May God accept him into his heavenly kingdom”
We will miss him and remember him always.
The family would like to thank the psalmists for their wonderful singing, Mike Kanigan for officiating the service, the Ootischenia ladies cooking group for the wonderful meal they prepared, the grave diggers who prepared Steve’s final resting place, and Bill Clark at the Castlegar Funeral Chapel for the excellent service; the Kootenay Men’s group for the beautiful casket, J. J. Verigin, for his kind words,
Dr. Taylor and the Home Care nurses. Thanks especially to all the friends and relatives who attended the service, to all our wonderful neighbors, who brought good food, to all those who called, sent cards, brought beautiful flowers, good food, and expressed their condolences and contributed during the service. May God bless you all.