John Huntley Steib's Obituary
John Huntley Steib was born on October 28, 1935, in Vacherie, Louisiana, into a large, fun-loving Creole family. The family resided in St. James Parish and attended Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church. He was a quiet, curious child who enjoyed sports, helped with household "farming" chores, and even owned a pigeon coop.
After graduating from high school, John decided to leave Louisiana and enlisted in the US Navy in San Diego, California, where he was a machinist. His travels with the Navy took him to various places, including Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Hawaii.
After his Navy discharge in 1959, he moved to Oakland, California, where he met and married Lottie Hill in 1963.
John held various jobs, which included being a mechanic and painter, but soon realized his passion was construction. He founded John Steib Construction in 1975 and never looked back. Although he wasn’t a man of many words, he enjoyed helping others. He had an endless number of clients, including many famous people such as Reggie Jackson and Shyamla Gopalan Harris, the mother of VP Kamala Harris.
John was an early bird and often said the day was almost over at noon. He would begin his day at a donut shop in Berkeley with his normal early morning crew, complete his work for the day and end his day by visiting various places such as Ashby Lumber Company, Sterling Chevron and the Bank of the West (now BMO) and tell them how to run their businesses (hah hah!). John enjoyed growing vegetables and cooking, and his favorite meals to cook included gumbo, red beans and rice, turkey wings, and BBQ.
John leaves his daughters, sister, sons-in-law, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to share his memory, as well as a host of family members and close friends. John will truly be missed.
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