Steven W. Green

Steven (Steve) William Green, 68, of South Beloit, Illinois, passed away peacefully in his home on October 10th, 2023 following a courageous battle with cancer. Steve was born in Detroit, Michigan on September 8th, 1955 to the late William and Mary (Cotton) Green. He graduated Frank Cody High School in 1973. Upon graduating high school, he continued his education at Wayne State in Michigan where he worked towards his Associates in computer programming. In his early 20s he moved to Roscoe, Illinois to be with his parents and attended Rock Valley Community College. He later worked full time for Rock Valley College as a programmer. While teaching part time for Rock Valley, Steve worked for Warner Electric in South Beloit, Illinois for several years until he began working for Elco in Rockford. Steve ended his career as a Senior Systems Data Manager at Telephone Data Systems (TDS) in the Madison, WI area. 

During his time at Rock Valley, he met his wife Patricia (Kleparski) Green in a programming class. In 1980 the two began to date and soon married on October 2nd, 1982. They built their dream home in South Beloit in 1986 on five acres of wooded land. Steve enjoyed spending a great deal of time outside. He loved spending time landscaping, building things for the home (shed, dog kennel, etc.), and feeding the birds. Although, Steve did not enjoy the holes the chipmunks made in the yard. During their time together, Steve and Pat spent time traveling, camping, and hiking. Most notably they went to Nova Scotia where they went on a 12-hour cruise and went camping by the water. 

Steve’s proudest moments came through his two daughters, Leigha and Emily Green. Similarly to Steve, Leigha had the same drive to travel and explore the world. Steve and Leigha went on many adventures, specifically their most recent trips to New Zealand (early 2020) and London (2021). Steve shared his love for handy work with his daughter Emily. They worked on many projects around the home almost every weekend with their last project being a cat patio. Steve shared many characteristics with his daughters and most especially shared his love for astronomy, cats, love of learning, music, and the outdoors. 

In his free time, Steve enjoyed reading, working on recreating scientific models, spending time supporting the musical arts through attending many operas and symphony orchestras, spending time on Lake Superior, and continued learning. Steve loved animals but loved cats the most. In late 2020, he picked out his adored cat Newt. He spent time caring for many animals throughout his life; however, cats have always been his favorite. He often told stories about the cats at his grandmother’s home in Michigan, which led him to name the family’s first cat Spooks after his grandmother’s cat. 

He is survived by his beloved wife, Patricia (Kleparski) Green; two daughters Leigha and Emily Green; brothers, Jerry Green, Ken (Denise) Green; sister, Nancy Rick; several nieces and nephews; great nieces and nephews. 

Steve’s family would like to thank all of Steve’s extended family and friend’s throughout the years for the support and love they have showed Steve. A celebration of life will be held at a later date. Regarding donations, the family has chosen two organizations. The first is to honor Steve and his love for nature, the family is requesting donations be made to The Nature Conservancy. As appendix cancer is a relatively rare the family is asking for donations to the Appendix Cancer Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (ACPMP) Research Foundation to further support research efforts of appendix cancer.

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