Fond Recollections of Steve McEwen

Who wasn't fond of Steve McEwen? He was such a sweetheart.

My dad had a great deal of respect for Steve -- that's what got me started on appreciating him. Dad knew a great man when he saw one. Dad admired his leadership at Henry Filters, and the way he thought about things; plus, I suppose that he knew that he was a man of character, and one who could be counted on to do what was right.

• I was fortunate to sit behind Steve at church recently, when we were celebrating the musical leadership of his grand-neice Heather (who is now the music director at First Presbyterian Church).

  It had been quite awhile since I'd seen him -- we'd missed him at Christmas, and who knows when I'd seen him before that -- perhaps back before the pandemic.

  He'd clearly slowed down, and at one point in the service, when Heather was referencing him, I had to tap him to let him know that he was being mentioned. But he was his usual jovial, pleasant self, and we had an amiable conversation after the service was over, exchanging a warm handshake, and a hug.

• Several times in my life I had the chance to enjoy his enthusiastic sharing of his various loves -- motorcycles (we both toured in our own ways); Ham radio, which I toyed with getting into -- especially with a distant place in Ontario; his sailing. He tried to talk my son Thad into going to Kettering University, his alma mater; he was proud of his school, and wanted others to enjoy the things he enjoyed.

• Many years ago I had the pleasure of witnessing an interaction between my dad Cliff and Steve, again at the Presbyterian church. The two were known as Mr. Fixits, and when the doors to the sanctuary were giving trouble, they decided to take a look and see if they couldn't take care of the problem.

  As they studied the situation, my dad spotted the trouble: "Oh, I see what's going on Steve: the door is binding up here. We've got to introduce a little slop."

  Steve interrupted Dad: "Cliff, Cliff -- clearance; we need to introduce a little clearance."

  As president of Henry Filters, Steve couldn't be caught solving any problems by adding in "slop"! My dad called it what it was, but I learned that words are important, and can convey the wrong impression; so we might be better off choosing to use an "auxiliary word".