Stephan Howe

Stephan David Howe, 79, died peacefully in Reno, Nev., on August 1st, after a long and loving life, including 30 years with his beloved wife, Kiki Doukas. He had been hospitalized after a fall and for the last year had received cancer treatment for Acute Myeloma Leukemia. He was known for his generous spirit and ability to connect with all people. He was a lifelong teacher and mentor to countless young people, including his eight children and 23 grandchildren. He was also a proud Army veteran who served in Vietnam as a Captain with the Airborne Rangers.

Steve was born in Pocatello, Idaho, to Margaret Ellen Barrett Howe and Reed James Howe. He was the first of four children. He moved to Utah, where he lived in Salt Lake City and Bountiful in his younger years. He began his education there when he was 2 years old and followed a group of kindergartners to school. As a kid, he worked part-time with his father, a union glazier, and in the cherry orchards in Bountiful. He refused to eat peaches and cherries for the rest of his life. His family moved to Northern Nevada in 1964 for his senior year of high school, and he attended and graduated from Sparks High School in 1965. Steve enrolled at the University of Nevada, Reno, and paid his own way through college, graduating in four years with a Bachelor of Business Administration. He later returned to UNR to earn a Master’s in Education.

After years in the Reserve Officer Training Corps, Steve took up active duty in the Army, became an Airborne Ranger, and served with distinction as the captain of a field artillery battery deployed to Vietnam. He worked as a recruiter and remained close to many of his Army buddies. He was proud of his service and his devotion to his own number one mission: keep his troops alive. But the war experience also traumatized him and exposed him to Agent Orange, a chemical used in the war that contributed to his health complications and early passing. He loved the VA and wore Vietnam Vet hats virtually every day for the last fifteen years.

Steve worked in a variety of jobs, always with a powerful work ethic and good nature, including working with his dad at Reno Glass and also as a school bus driver, a life insurance salesman, and a driver/dealer of a Mac Tools truck before settling into a career as a public school teacher in Washoe County School District, inspired in part by his many years as a Boy Scout leader. He taught at some of the poorest schools in the county but believed strongly that his students and their families were human beings worthy of the best education and opportunities on offer. He collaborated for years with teaching partner Mike Bryant, modeling student-centered teaching and compassion for all while serving as a pair of rare male educators in elementary schools.

When new acquaintances asked Steve what he taught, he’d reply simply, “Kids.” Yet he was also passionate about the subject matter he shared with students. He participated in “Marsville,” a hands-on simulation in which students prepared for settlement on the red planet, which allowed him to twice visit the NASA Space Center in Houston and then bring the curriculum back to Washoe County. He loved teaching history and reading through literature. Steve was a lifelong experiential learner, visiting national parks and monuments and sometimes sneaking away from conferences to see the sights on his own – including a transcendentalist walk with his wife and fellow educator Kiki around Walden Pond, and innumerable kayak paddles on the Monterey Bay. His teaching career came full circle when he retired from his alma mater, Sparks High.

Steve was an amazing father and grandfather – a loving caretaker and always a teacher at home too. In college, he married Linda Lee Packer and had his first two kids, Aleisha and Reed. They joined him while he was still in the Army, stationed throughout the U.S., from North Carolina to Colorado, Oklahoma to Connecticut. After retiring from the army and after his divorce, he met and married Jeanine Wolf in 1978, and had three more children, Stephanie, Dutch, and Adam, and he was a father to Jeanine's son, Christopher. During this time, Steve was a Boy Scout leader and an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

In 1995, Steve married Kiki (Leslie) Doukas, with whom he remained in love until his death, and he also became a father to her children, Shana and Max Krochmal. He loved kids, and he had a quiver full – he never treated us differently and loved us all individually. He made sure that each of us had an old beater car when we got our licenses, and he taught us how to keep them running and where to go to pass smog inspections. Steve’s main parenting strategy was to give us big hugs and hold us tight and remind us he loved us, even when we were teenagers with bad attitudes. He knew we’d be okay thanks to all that he had taught us. His many grandchildren often accompanied him on camping trips and to music festivals, museum trips and other educational adventures.

Steve and Kiki were an unstoppable duo in their journeys across the world and as enthusiastic seekers in understanding the meaning of life. They first eloped to tiny Austin, Nev., and then traveled the world together, disappearing for months to Alaska or on camping trips throughout the American West. After they retired from the school district, they rode a series of RVs across North America, mapping out visits and celebrations with friends and family from Nova Scotia to Los Angeles to Louisiana to Seattle and everywhere along the way, attending blessings and graduations, weddings and funerals. They later travelled to Peru and Mexico, where although Steve was great at eating street tacos and menudo, it turned out that there were some foods that were too strange even for him. At age 76, he and Kiki spent two months traveling through Europe, where he had never been before, with long stays in Italy and Greece. His last major trips were an inter-generational family adventure outside of Tulum and a visit at Easter to Owl Creek.

For years their retreat in Reno was a geodesic dome on a hilltop in Palomino Valley, a perch from which they could watch the weather come and go, observe the subtle changes of the blooming desert, and listen to the birds at their feeders while soaking in the hot tub. They loved to hike, to ride bikes, to kayak, to dance together to live music, and above all, to share the company of family and friends. Many grandchildren enjoyed hikes around the 65-acre property, carefully herded by their border collies, Hank and Pepper. Steve loved to eat, make pickles, and celebrate with others, and every day could become a special occasion. Their harmonic happy birthday songs were legendary and remained saved in the voicemail messages of many friends and family.

He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Kiki (Leslie) Doukas; his children, Aleisha (Curtis) Ivins , Reed (Brook) Howe, Christopher “Bud” (Wendi) Williams, Shana Naomi (Jessica Maxwell) Krochmal, Stephanie D (Scott) Hoyt, Dutch (Georgina) Howe, Max (Courtney Wait) Krochmal and Adam Howe; his grandchildren Randy, Connor, Sarina, Benjamin, Spencer, RJ, Emmy, Pierce, Jenna, Jovee, Jack, Nikki, Trevor, Timothy, Barrett, Crosby, Stephan, Samuel, Skyler, Elijah, Rayna, Oliver, and Taytum; and three great-grandchildren (Wesley, Lila, and one on the way). He is also survived by his brother, Fred (Bonnie) Howe and his sisters, Julie Howe and Janeen (Bill) Conley; his nieces and nephews; and many more dear cousins and relatives. Steve’s chosen family also includes the Owl Creek gang, numerous friends and neighbors in Reno, and even the close friends of his kids. Since Steve’s passing, many who received the news have remarked that they think of themselves as part of his family, too – just as Steve would have wanted. He was preceded in death by his father, Reed, in 1994, and by only three years by his beloved mother, Margaret Howe, whose 100th birthday would have been the day before his passing.

A celebration of Steve’s life will be held in Reno, Nev., on October 10, 2026, with details to follow. Some of his remains will be interred at the Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, Nev., on October 12, 2026, at 11:00am. All are welcome at both events, as well as other celebrations to be planned that weekend; please email stevehowecelebration@gmail.com for a full list of activities. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes contributions to a memorial gift in Steve’s honor (see GoFundMe link below) to support the health care teams who helped extend his life and support his family through his passing.