Steve Wilkes
Class of 1972, From his daughter, Meranda, Thank to Frank X. Vega for making this photo collage.

Hello everyone,
This is Stephens's daughter Meranda Wilkes.
Some of you have most likely heard already but I wanted to make a post myself for those who have not.
My dad passed away on February 28th.
Towards the beginning of January, my dad started to feel sick. My mom got sick a well with Covid and ended up in the hospital. We thought perhaps this was what my dad had as well, but it was not.
We found out that my dad had developed Diverticulitis, which is quite common for a lot of people. The diverticulitis in his intestines became inflamed and then became infected, which made him very very sick. After a trip to Copper Queen, he ended up in the hospital, and was transported to Tucson.
It was discovered that the treatments my dad was receiving for this liver cancer were causing the inflammation in his intestines to get worse. So the treatments could not continue.
During his illness, the infection caused severe life threatening dehydration. His kidneys began to fail and he had to get dialysis.
My father was told that he would have to get these treatments multiple times a week for the rest of his life.
This, to my father was not a good choice for quality of life. Instead he chose to stop all treatments, and to come home. After bringing him home on the 14th, which he referred to as his 'Liberation Day' after a rough stay at TMC, he was entered into hospice care. For the next two weeks, me and my brother Tyler, took care of him, with help and care from the Hospice service as well. The night of February 28th, after his health suddenly declined, he passed away.
When he first got home, he came on Facebook and wanted to make a post himself about what was happening, but he couldn't seem to find the right words to say. When trying to help him figure it out, all he really said, or joked, was 'I love you all, except for those of you I don't.' It's not much, but I suppose it suits him well.