Edward Stegeman, Jr.

Edward F. Stegeman, Born in Denver March 7, 1928. Passed away June 17, 2017. He is preceded in death with his wife Marie, brothers and sisters. He is survived by his daughter Diane (Leroy), Brother Fred, Granddaughter Annette (John), Grandson Tony (Nikki), and five great grandchildren, Andrew, Nichollas, Tyler, Patrick, and Colette. Ed's parents were from Russia, migrated to Germany and finally to state side where they settled in Kansas. There they built three churches, and Ed Sr. would go on to invent the first electric flat iron. Their journey brought them Colorado, where it all began for Ed Jr. on March 7, 1929. Ed and all his siblings grew up in a small house on 38th and High Street in Denver and all of them attended Denver Public Schools. In 1944, Ed joined the Navy where he sailed on the USS ATA 189, USS ATA 2017, USS ATA 159, and the USS APL 53. In 1948, he was discharged with an Honorable COG and a World War II Victory Medal. After the Navy Ed took a job at Clover Glass Company but his work did not stop there. He went on to work at Crest Fence Company, then to Elcar Fencing where he retired from. On November 6, 1948, Ed married the love of his live, Marie. The two of them enjoyed their life. This life included Polka Dancing through all hours of the night along with Marie's sister Kay and her husband Joe. They became known as the ""fabulous four"". They did everything together. This included Ed helping Joe (Kutz) with his race care at Lakeside Speedway and boy the trouble they would get into there. In 1951, Diane was born and that was Ed and Marie's pride and joy. Oh did they spoil her. Then the worries for Ed and Marie began. Living so close to Marie's family, Diane and her cousins would get into much mischief. One time, when Diane started to drive, she hit a parked car. She claimed that a car had backed in to her, but when Ed found out the truth, he went into the Scotchman to get her and bring her home and WOW was he mad. Diane knew she was in BIG trouble, but Ed would never stay mad at her to long, he usually just gave in. As Diane grew up, Ed continued with his second passion, racing. Every Sunday Ed, Marie and Diane would join Joe Sr., Kay, and Joe Jr. at the race track bringing many nights of excitement and thrills. Ed's love for racing grew and he continued helping Joe Jr. with his racing career. This led to many years of Ed and Joe traveling to other cities and States. However, one thing you always have to remember is that Ed was very protective of his Racing family and you would never want to cross him at the race track. September 1968, Diane would marry Leroy which started a new journey for Ed and Marie. In 1969, his granddaughter was born and his grandson Tony was born in 1973, completing the family. Ed and Marie move to Downing Street and it ended up that Diane and Leroy moved across the street from them. How lucky could two grandchildren be? They were able to grow up with their parents and grandparents throughout the years. Over the years their family grew as Annette would marry John and had Andrew the first Great Grandchild. Then Tony had Nichollas and Tyler then Married Nikki and brought two more great grand children in to the family Patrick and Colette which Ed adored as his own. Ed retired from Elcar Fence in 2004 with over 54 years at the company. Then on January 13, 2005, Marie passed away leaving Ed lost for a while. Ed decided to join the Silver Sneakers at the Thornton Recreation Center where he would work out every day of the week faithfully. His dedication here brought him many publications in the local Thornton paper as he was a Premier member. Along with the Silver Sneakers, Ed joined the Kickers Club where he would go Polka dancing every weekend with his new friends. He loved his dancing, but when you danced with Ed, it was almost impossible to keep up. He would swing you around the dance floor and your feet would never touch the ground. He loved dancing! In fact he loved it and his friends so much that in 2016 he took a few of the friends he had made at the Kickers club to Vegas for a few days and nights of fun. A trip they all cherished. So many memories with Ed from racing to BBQ's, Christmas parties, 4th of July parties, family dinners, picnics, and holidays. To many memories to share and not enough time now to talk about what a great man Ed was. Dedicated to everyone and loved by all, with a smile, kindness, and generosity, never to be forgotten. There will never be another Ed, but one thing is for certain, he is now home and dancing in heaven with Marie! In honor of Ed, please consider wearing blue at the Funeral Service. Ed will be laid to rest with his loving wife at Fort Logan National Cemetery.