Stephen "Steve" Cruise

Stephen “Steve” Cruise, 50, of North Augusta, South Carolina, passed away on Tuesday, May 31, 2023. He was the loving husband of Randy D. Elvidge. The couple had 23 happy years together. The celebration of Stephen’s life will be held at a later date. Stephen was born on October 31, 1972, in Montgomery, Alabama, son of Stephen “Henry” and Judy (Hammonds) Cruise. He was a graduate of Robert E. Lee High School and went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees at the Florida Institute of Technology. Steve was a business analyst for Valmet (previously Metso), where he was able to demonstrate his skills at showing how every process could be mapped, improved, and have reason. His coworkers were all family to him, and he cherished every minute he spent with his “lunch bunch”. He would try to convince everyone that he needed to travel to Wisconsin for important work duties, but truly he wanted to spend time with his northern friends. He found a way to creatively arrange the needs of his projects around seeing his work family, enjoying the Wisconsin dining experience, hanging out with all of his friends at Rascal’s (who comedically nicknamed him “Stove”). Steve loved to be entertained, and loved to do the entertaining. He often reminisced about his antics with his father at Harry’s on The River, where many were either lucky or unlucky to take part in singing, dancing, and of course… pranks. Steve’s musical tastes served him and his husband well while cruising the world on the high seas. Steve was a master at 70’s music trivia, and with Randy’s 80’s music knowledge they now have closets full of golden ship trophies. Steve liked his music to match his cooking… cheesy. He was an amazing cook, and anyone lucky enough to have joined him for a meal will attest to his skills. He believed all main courses needed a sauce, and that was likely an homage to the great Julia Childs. But, his greatest influence was his mother. She gifted a cookbook in which she included an inscription that said he could follow her recipes, but he would never cook as good as her. He gladly accepted that challenge. In many ways, Steve was what you would call an old soul. He appreciated the classics, and classical way of life. He loved old movies, old television shows, and older music. On many weekends, he and Randy were just as happy watching British comedies, or older movies. There was an unwritten list of movies that, if you started even just one second of it, you must watch completely to the end. Unless, of course, it was his favorite movie “Smokey & The Bandit”. Steve knew every line, much to Randy’s dismay, so it was mutually agreed that they would skip that movie at home. He was also a huge fan of Star Trek, enjoying every story line and series within the franchise. Stephen is survived by his loving husband, Randy; his parents Stephen “Henry” and Judy (Hammonds); his brother Donald “Donnie” whom Steve was immensely proud of; along with several cousins. Steve is also survived by friends all over whom he considered as his extended family. The Columbia, SC family, the Beech Island Boatclub family, the Wisconsin family, the St. Petersburg family, the Auburn, AL family from way back.

Tributes

Stephen "Steve" Cruise

October 31, 1972 - May 31, 2023