Steven Whitney Stille

On Thursday, October 27, 2022, Steven Whitney Stille of Storm Lake, IA passed away peacefully while surrounded by his family in Naples, FL at the age of 74. Visitation will take place Thursday, November 10, 2022 from 5-7:30 p.m. at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in STORM LAKE. Memorial services will be held Friday, November 11, 2022 at 3:00 p.m. at the Lakeside Presbyterian Church in Storm Lake. A Celebration of Life will take place after the service at King's Pointe in Storm Lake. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements. Steve “Baby Huey” “Backwater” Stille was born on November 9, 1947 to Donna Jean Whitney and Roy Stille at the University of Iowa hospitals. Steve grew up in Storm Lake, IA and spent summers enjoying lake life on Lake Okoboji. He graduated from Storm Lake Senior High School in 1965 where he excelled playing basketball. He continued to play basketball as a Coyote at the University of South Dakota (USD) and cherished his time as a “Delt.” In 1969, he graduated from USD with a Business Administration Bachelor’s Degree. From there, Steve went to law school at the University of Arizona in Tucson for one year before moving back to Storm Lake to go into the insurance and real estate business with his father, Roy. The company at that time was known as Stille Schaller Insurance. A year later, his father Roy passed away. Steve would buy the business from his mother and recruited Tim Pierce, his best friend, and the company was then known as Stille, Pierce, & Schaller. Shortly thereafter, it became Stille, Pierce Insurance and Real Estate. In January of 1974, Steve met Becky Nelson while she was a new teacher at Storm Lake and they married in December of that year. Together they would welcome and raise two daughters, Sarah and Meredith. After growing his family, Steve would also grow his company, this time evolving into Stille, Pierce, and Pertzborn, where he would work until his retirement in 2017. Upon his retirement, Steve and Becky made Naples, FL their permanent residency, still spending the summers in Storm Lake. Steve was well known throughout the community as a businessman, a supportive husband, and a loving father. In his recent years, he enjoyed the time spent with his grandchildren and many friends. In his free time, he was an avid fisherman, loved to go hunting and golfing, played games (especially cards), was a voracious reader and supported many local establishments and businesses. In 2009, Steve received the Gift of Life from an organ donor in the form of a heart transplant. His new heart would allow him to write many new chapters toward his life’s tale, while also fueling his passion for organ donation, especially heart transplants. Steve will be greatly missed by all who knew him, and he was a gift to this world in so many ways. When interacting with Steve, he had a way to make everyone feel important, valued, and he appreciated those he met. He would mix his humor along with his caring ability and created a fatherly space in many hearts that was special to many younger friends of the family. He was wise, kind, generous, and always said how “lucky he was.” Steve was preceded in death by his father, Roy, and his mother Donna Jean Whitney; his in-laws Don and Fern Nelson. Steve is survived by his wife Becky, daughters Sarah Stille (Adam Dickinson) and Meredith Daley (Mike Daley), as well as his grandchildren: Ellie, Nelson, Cora, Liam, and Eamonn; He is also survived by his sister Debi Trizila, her children and their families; brother-in-law, Larry Nelson (Lynn) and sister-in-law, Mary Ira and nieces and nephews on Becky’s side of the family. And almost everyone with the last name “Stille!” The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts in memory of Steve can be directed to the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics’ Organ Transplant Center General Fund to help support the heart transplant team that cared for Steve and his family over the years. Online gifts can be made by visiting www.givetoiowa.org, entering “organ transplant” in the search box and following the instructions provided. Gifts by check can be sent to the University of Iowa Center for Advancement at P.O. Box 4550, Iowa City, IA 52244-4550. Please make the check payable to the University of Iowa Center for Advancement and include the name of the fund in the memo. The family would like to extend their deepest gratitude first, to the heart donor, doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, heart transplant coordinators and team who orchestrated Steve’s journey these past 13 years. We are forever grateful.

Steven Whitney Stille

November 9, 1947 - October 27, 2022