Arvid Dale Steffek

Arvid Dale Steffek was born September 10, 1948 to George and Lois Steffek in Abilene, KS. He passed on 04/24/24 in Mesa, AZ. He is survived by his wife Donna of 18 years, Sister Kathleen Barten of Abilene, KS, Daughter Jennifer Perez of East Chicago, IN, Son Sean Steffek Glaesemann of Spokane, WA, three step-daughters, Michele Shields of Chandler, AZ, Kimberly Green of Colorado Springs, CO, Tammy Collins of Queen Creek, AZ, Step-son Kenny Imus of Tempe, AZ, ten grand- children, and four great-grandchildren. Nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his brother Gordon Steffek of Pahrump, Nevada.

He started out working part-time for a local electrician when he was just 14. After graduating from Abilene High School in 1966 he went to work for his father's company as a heavy equipment operator working in the dirt. He also around this time, spent a year working for the AT&SF R on a bridge and building crew doing mostly Bridge maintenance. On a wild hair, him and his first wife took off to go to Alaska just to see it, but after getting there had to go to work as they were broke. He worked for PR&S Pipeline Service out of Anchorage, AK the summer of 1972. Coming back to down to the lower forty-eight he joined local 370 of the Operating Engineers, Spokane, WA, that covered the work starting up in Lewiston, ID. He worked as an operating Engineer as his main employment, driving truck when construction was slow or shut down till 1982. He also worked as a heavy duty mechanic during his time in local 370. Spring of 1982 he had an offer to go to Saudi Arabia to help develop a 56,000 acre farm that was just getting started. His main job there was to supervise a crew putting in the access roads and well pads for the large circle irrigation systems. Coming back from Saudi Arabia spring of 1983, he went to work at the Naval Weapons Air Station in the Mojave Desert in CA for the next 17 years doing road maintenance and test support.

Expanding family then drew him and his late wife to Mesa AZ in 1999, where he again joined the Operating Engineers local 428, working to build the pads and streets for many of the big developments in and around Phoenix. Retiring in 2009, For the next five years he drove truck for First Fleet, delivering groceries for the Kroeger store chains in Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico, retiring from them in 2013. Filling up his "slack" time he enjoyed working with wood. Then August of 2021 he began volunteering at the Midwest Food Bank, Arizona Division, Gilbert, AZ, Hauling donations from donors to the main distribution warehouse and various food banks in AZ. He did this up until his health began to fail him and by October 2023, felt it was too risky to continuing driving for them turning in his CDL License he'd held for over 57 years and millions of miles driven.