In Memory

Stephen Howard Rothblatt

Stephen Howard Rothblatt



 
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05/06/13 07:05 PM #1    

Richard Zaitlen

Steve was one of my best friends from 7th grade on through high school at Niles West.

We shared all those events that we look back on now with cherished memories.

.....Building full sized sailboats (which sank), experimenting with firecrackers and rockets (we survived...barely), studying ( English with Mr. Foxx and Chemistry with "Uncle" Ernie Salners), double dating (we were SO naieve), sports and cars and Cub games and other grand  experiences.....

Steve received his chem engineering degree (like me) and  went to law school (also like me).

He then decided to join the EPA in Chicago,  and helped really  clean up Lake Michigan and the surrounding waterways. At the time , going into Lake Michigan was akin to .......well....... having unprotected sex in Las Vegas.

Steve  married , had kids and led a very full, accomplished and even noble life.

--- But it ended way way too soon.

I miss him a lot.

:-/

 

Richard Zaitlen

 

 

 

 


05/07/13 06:56 AM #2    

Sharry Rugendorf (Falcon)

Stephen was much smarter then most if us. I asked him to do my homework and he said no.  I Asked him the answers to a test and he said no.  I blame him and his friends for making it impossible for me to make the top of the bell curve.Its their fault I graduated in the bottom of the class and didn't do well in school.its their fault I  didn't get into Harvard or Yale.

 

Stephen always had a smile on his face.He always walked up the right stair case. He was never late for class. He always knew the right answers.  He was shy and very cute. He was someone everyone liked.

I remember at school dances, he stood near Alan Karlin and hugged the wall.  I know, I stood next to them.  I hated 7 th grade dances too.  We all decided not to dance in 8 th grade too.

 

He was one of those nice Lincolnwood boys.  He was shy, quiet, and smart. He was someone everyone liked and remembered. Yes, we will all miss you.

Why is this print so small?. I even have my glasses on.


05/14/13 01:24 PM #3    

Art Wulf

Steve was the best man at my wedding.  He decided to  start growing a moustache about 2 days before the ceremony.  Needless to say, my wife to be was not too happy.  She grabbed an eyebrow pencil on the spot, and filled in his lip, so it did not look too bad.

I miss him a lot.

 

Art Wulf


05/16/13 02:07 PM #4    

Stephen Spitz

I knew Steve in high school, but much better when I moved to live in the same apartment building in which he lived on Belden Avenue when I was in law school. He was an avid sailor and invited me sailing on his sailboat in Lake Michigan several times. He was a kind and nice person. It is sad to see him die much too soon.


05/26/13 06:12 PM #5    

Allan Norman Karlin

Steve and I reconnected a few times over the years.  He worked for the EPA and really cared about his work.  I remember him well from when we were young.  Smart, funny, a really good person. 


07/27/13 07:42 PM #6    

Bruce Grossman

Steve and I became good friends at Illinois and for a few years after graduation until I moved to LA while he was in Law school. What a great smart funny honest guy Its' really sad reading about his passing. We had a lot of good times together. It is very heartwarming to read about his successes in life.

I have a picture with him and another Niles west grad which I will d/l here if I can figure out how


12/17/13 11:09 PM #7    

Robert Mark Ross

Steve and I were best friends in high school and both socially inept. We were good at it. We were part of a group of social misfits that liked to hang together. Steve figured girls out before I did, which i envied. He had a warped way of looking at most things that both made me laugh and wonder. Richard, Rick, Art and I spent a lot of time getting into trouble but still were able to graduate and get into college. Steve spent a lot of time blowing things up in his back yard. We took lots of trips together. We smuggled oleo into Wisconsin to trade for 3.2 beer. We were the worlds worst campers but that did not stop us from crossing into Canada by canoe for 2 weeks....where we almost starved until we found the salami Art was hiding. We drove cross country in a "drive away" car to San Francisco via Yellowstone by disconnecting the odometer on the car. Steve narrowly avoided being mauled by a bear he was trying to feed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. In SF, he found something to smoke that left us staring at a back and white test pattern on the TV all night.  I think that is when he decided to become a lawyer. He loved to sail as much as I hated it. He never failed to return the tents we bought after the trip to Sears for a full refund claiming they leaked.   He walked and dressed like Woody Allen but with more hair. He lived  near Lincoln Park in one of the strangest apartments I have ever seen but you really could bowl down the hallway. Like all the engineer grads in our class, he became a lawyer. He joined EPA early on and really loved his work....he even carrie a gun for a while on raids......I doubt anyone allowed him to have bullets. He was good at what he did and at the of his career was in the Super Grades. He traveled the world for EPA and met with many heads of state.....come to think of it, that might explain the collapse of the Soviet Union. He married a wonderful woman and had two great kids he adored. Jeanie was as much a out of the box thinker as Steve, which made their lives a constant adventure. They lived in a wonderful old Summer Home near the Lake, which he loved.   Steve was one of a kind and I miss him 


01/05/17 12:22 PM #8    

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

A tip of the hat! and belated thank you to Steve for his work as a staff expert of the EPA, protecting all of us from nuclear generator catastrophes.

I remember Steve and celebrate his life and his work with those who knew him better than I.


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