Stephen John Whitehead was born at the Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital, in San Diego County, California. After a prolonged labor and a false alarm or two, Stephen finally decided to make his presence known.
When Stephen was born the doctor said he had hair like a bear. He was a lovely child. While at the hospital Gordon and Diane were required to attend a class on how to give a baby a bath. They dutifully went, and as they watched the nurses bathing the child selected from the nursery Gordon commented to Diane "They are being a little too rough, I'm glad that's not my baby." As they looked closer however, the baby being washed had pointy ears and Gordon and Diane then realized it actually was their baby. They chuckled.
Okinawa was a happy time. Stephen learned how to get sprayed in the shower by big brother Christopher. Stephen learned how to get drug into the wading pool by his diaper while out on the balcony. Stephen liked to explore. He eventually figured out how to roll his chubby body over the road blocks his parents setup to keep him out of trouble. In Okinawa the family lived right by the Marine Air base (Futemna). Mostly C130 airplanes and helicopters flew in and out. Stephen’s first word was “Gop” which Diane realized meant helicopter.
Stephen was an intensely intelligent boy, but he was highly introverted. He would not say something unless he could say it right. For example, he would not practice his ABCs out loud. But, one day, he was able to say them. Gordon and Diane realized he was all along learning them in his mind first. Stephen knew how to think.
Eventually Gordon was transferred to Corvallis, Oregon where he attended Oregon State University as a marine. It was at this time Stephen first went to pre-school. On Tuesdays and Thursdays Gordon and Stephen would walk to school. Stephen often wore his Dad’s camouflage utility hat.
Stephen was keenly aware of his surroundings and always worried about others. While the family lived in Corvallis, they would often travel back to Dayton for family activities. Stephen would be concerned over Dad’s sense of direction and every time they drove to Dayton Stephen would insist that Dad was going the wrong way. “Grandpa doesn’t go this way”, Stephen would remind Dad.
Stephen always wanted the family to live together in one place. He never quite understood why the Whiteheads, the Ramos’s and everyone else related couldn’t just live at the Ramos house. Stephen loved the Ramos house. He use to explore and rome around. One day, while the family was living at the Ramos house waiting to move to Quantico, Virginia, Diane heard some whimpering out of her bedroom window. She looked out of the window, realized a big rooster was attacking Stephen, and so she flew down the stairs, grabbed a big tree branch and began to whack and chase the rooster all over the yard. She did him in!
After the Gulf War, the family moved back to Oregon where Stephen enjoyed going to Errol Hassle elementary. He did quite well, made friends, and enjoyed life in Beaverton. It was there he earned his Arrow of Light, and advanced to be a Deacon. During the summer between his 11th and 12th birthday, Stephen was allowed to go with the Deacons to boy scout camp. His scout master Terry Meacham loved Stephen. He use to have Stephen arm wrestle the other boys and Stephen beat them all, even the older boys. Dad eventually got out of the Marines and worked for Nike. Stephen went to work with Dad a couple of times to attend a basketball camp. He didn’t really like the camp that much, but he loved going to Nike, hanging out, and eating the good lunches. Stephen liked food.
The family then moved to Dayton after a nasty battle with Children’s Services Division, who wrongfully took Stephen and his brothers and sisters on a false accusation that was unfounded and later completely disproved in court. This event had a life long effect on Stephen and unfortunately hurt him deeply, there is no question, the events of CSD contributed to Stephen’s difficult life.
Eventually the family moved to Dayton, Oregon. This was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, the family was close to Grandparents. On the other hand, there seemed to be a lot of mischief waiting for Stephen in Dayton.
The Dayton boys were mostly very unkind. Stephen tried to play football, but was treated badly and the 6th grade coach allowed hazing. Stephen was drug through the mud. He did play baseball, basketball, and wrestling. He never enjoyed it much. Stephen loved electronics and his guitar. It was in Dayton that he got his first guitar. Stephen was clever, he learned how to play the guitar virtually by himself. He was also able to find a way to move his music onto his computer. There he was able to layer in drums, a keyboard, and other devices to make his music sound as if it was being played by a band. His songs are available on the internet and they are truly amazing. Stephen kept a music journal and drew his inspiration for songs from all sorts of places. He sang about food, he sang about wrecking the car, but he mostly sang about life and pain and joy and friends and girls.
By the way, it was in Dayton when Stephen first got his motorcycle. It was not his official motorcycle, it was the little bike he hid in the bushes at Grandpa Ramos’s house. Stephen would tell the family he’s going to the Ramos’s and go ride his motorcycle. Dad figured it out one day, gave Stephen some room, and then followed in the car. It was funny, except Dad forgot the humor and was angry for too long. Stephen was clever. He wanted a motorcycle so bad. One night early in the morning the phone rang and it was a high school friend of Gordon’s calling to inform him that Stephen was in his house and was caught joy riding on his motorcycle. Stephen was getting up in the middle of the night, sneaking over to that person’s home, taking the bike out of the garage, riding it around, putting it back, and then coming home. The friend said he only noticed it when the gas tank seemed to mysteriously be losing gas – so he investigated and realized what was going on.
Stephen eventually did get his motorcycle when he was 18. Dad later wished he had bought him one a lot sooner. Stephen was popular, but did not always know it. He was elected to the May court his Freshman year. This is one of the biggest honors in Dayton. Stephen’s music was also popular and people would gather around him at parties or at home just to listen to him sing. Stephen’s mom once paid him to give a concert to Michelle’s friends – and he was a hit.
Stephen decided to attend McMinnville high school part of his junior year and senior year. He made some new friends there, he tired to play football there, but it wasn’t much better of an experience. The boys on the team who were popular and played a lot felt the need to belittle Stephen and the experience ended up being negative. The coaches on the staff failed to pay attention and intervene where they could have made a great difference in Stephen’s life. Their loss.
During Stephen’s senior year, Gordon lost his job and the family had to file a bankruptcy. As a result, they moved to Canby in hopes of starting over. Stephen did well at Canby high school. He was Student of the month, was a wiz in the business and computer courses, and made a number of new friends.
After graduation, Stephen worked at Burgerville for a short time before deciding to go into the Air force. In the Air force Stephen learned electronics and was able to apply his technical skills. But, he was always frustrated with the bureaucracy of a system that did not let people perform their talents. Overall, the Air force was a good experience for him and he made a lot of friends. Stephen wanted to travel. But, unfortunately, he was assigned to Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, UT. Stephen made the best of this and snowboarded constantly. He was able to arrange his work schedule and go snowboarding in the morning and work in the afternoon and night.
Stephen loved his independence. When his enlistment was over he moved to Salt Lake where he took a job with a great company called LNXI (Linux Networx) Stephen loved lInux and was accomplished, performing operations and building tools that few others could. Unfortunately, the company eventually was sold and Stephen had to find another job. He was recruited by Engine Yard, a strong Linux company. Stephen shined at Engine Yard.
In July of 2008 Stephen became very ill. He had to stop working. This tortured Stephen. He tried to work several times, but his illness kept him from being able to consistently work. Stephen moved in with his family. The family moved from Dayton to Pleasant Grove, UT, where Stephen died on December 4, 2008.
Stephen played several instruments, was a computer genius, was a superior snowboarder, and was an avid inventor. He was always working on new ideas. Stephen was one of those few people who actually take an idea and make it into a reality.