Stephen LeRoy Eccles

Steve was the third child of David House Eccles and Jeanne Rosemary Averill. He was born and grew up in Los Angeles near his father’s parents and sisters and their families. When he was in ninth grade, his parents bought their first house in Alhambra, California. His older brother David and his sister, Judy, were in college by then.

He grew up around very supportive family members, so he always did well whenever he had products to sell for school or scout fundraisers. He liked working in high school and making money. Selling seemed to come naturally to him. He was a hard worker and did what he had to do to support his family.

Steve loved music, both listening to it and singing. He was in several choirs and even tried out for a national boys’ choir as a child. In high school he sang in the a cappella choir and performed in a production of The Music Man. He and his wife, Daryl, met when he was a farmer in a production of Oklahoma! When he lived in Texas joined a choir called Evening Song. They sang a lot of sacred music and performed all over Texas. They were invited to sing at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square in Salt Lake City in about 2008. Steve had a beautiful baritone voice and even sang tenor occasionally when coerced by the choir director. After he moved to Eugene, Oregon, he was encouraged to try out for the Eugene Symphony Orchestra Choir. He was accepted and sang with them for a couple of seasons. He also sang with the Emerald Valley Singers for Christmas performances and a couple of years with the Lamb of God productions.

He really enjoyed folk music. Groups like The Lettermen, the Kingston Trio, the Four Preps, and the Smothers Brothers were among his favorites.

In 1980, he and Ron Miller started The Miller-Eccles study group where guest speakers were invited to present information on the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and answer questions anyone might have. The group is still active in Southern California. He started a branch of the group in Texas while he lived there.

After he retired, he did volunteer work for the Lane County History Museum, the Sheriff Department, the Eugene Police Department and the Church History Department. He served a mission for the LDS Church in New Zealand from 1967-1969, working mostly on the southern end of the North Island. In 2015, he served again as a Family Search Missionary with his wife. They worked in the archives in Auckland until 2017. While there they digitized over 50,000 probate records for genealogy research. They also recorded about 50 oral histories for the Church History Dept.

Steve loved his children, though he wasn’t always good at showing them. He wanted them to make better choices in life than he had, especially his sons. He was often better with other peoples’ children, especially little ones.

He is loved and will be missed.