Stephen Edquist

Stephen Edquist

Stephen Paul Edquist, 52, died Jan. 13, 2011.

He was born May 24, 1958, in Oak Park, Ill. His family moved to Pullman, Wash., when he was three, and from then on lived in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. He went to junior high and high school in Boise, Idaho, and graduated from Boise High School.

Boise is where Stephen’s love of fishing and skiing began. He took a double major in philosophy and sociology with honors at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore. After a bit of fish and game work back in Idaho, he moved to Seattle. He spent many years there working for REI and amassing prodigious amounts of sporting gear.

Stephen climbed many mountains, including 56 attempts of Mt. Rainier. He skied in the backcountry he became an excellent fisherman, on saltwater or fresh, with conventional or fly. His love of the mountains and river fishing brought him to Whitefish.

In Whitefish, Stephen went to school to become a radiology technician. He mastered rafting, caught numerous cutthroats, skinned up Big Mountain many times, and lived with a wonderful woman who stayed at his side until the end.

He is preceded in death by his mother.

He is survived by his father and stepmother Ted and Nancy Edquist; his older brother David, his older sister and brother-in-law Joan and Frank Reberger; his niece Anna Edquist and nephew Justin Reberger; cousins on both sides; and a wide circle of friends; and his love, Cheryl Schankin, and her children Kylie, Spencer and Graham.

A celebration of his life will take place at the Great Northern Bar on Sunday, Jan. 30, beginning at 2 p.m.