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Obituary
Stephen Jerome Searcy, born in Detroit, MI. on July 5, 1961, to Zada Essie Jean Searcy (King) and Calvin Searcy, Jr. He was the 2nd of 4 children and the only boy, which he relished! He was raised in New Boston and graduated from Huron High School in 1980. He loved growing up in New Boston and, even after moving to Clinton, would often meet people for breakfast at Mariannes Diner for pancakes. He graduated with an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Wayne County Community College and went on to work as a Corrections officer for the State of Michigan for 25 years. Most of that time was spent at the Gus Harrison Correctional Facility where Steve was part of the Emergency Response team and was eventually promoted to Sargeant. He met many of his lifelong friends there, including Ozzy, Rick, Rock, and Marty. Steve was the ultimate storyteller and many of his workplace stories became famous amongst everyone who knew him. He cherished the memories and lifelong friendships he formed at Gus Harrison until the end.
Another big part of his life was being a Freemason, just like his dad. Steve belonged to Phoenix Lodge #13 and joined in the year 2000. In those 25 years, he was voted Mason of the Year in 2016 and was Master of the lodge in 2017. He served on many committees at the lodge, but especially enjoyed being on the scholarship committee. In the selection process, the primary goal was to “touch a life” and he was very good at selecting students that would truly benefit from the award. He also led many charity poker nights and winter coat drives for kids. His Lodge brothers became his real-life brothers, especially his best buddy, Peter Walline. He and Peter enjoyed “Meatloaf Mondays” at Jonnie’s in Clinton and “Steak Thursdays” at Embers in Tecumseh each week-he obviously didn’t like to cook much!
While Stephen kept friendships from each stage of his life, the people he cherished the most were his family. He loved his sisters with all that he had, even when the disagreements became heated. He adored his nieces and nephews and embraced his role as the “fun Uncle!” While he didn’t have any biological brothers, his cousins, Pete Reno, Randy Reno and Silas Rose were more like brothers than cousins. They had the best of both worlds growing up with Steve AND growing old with him. He was also close to his brothers-in-law, Keith Schewe and Sean Zemek.
Stephen lived a colorful life and kept his opinions from no one. While opinionated, Steve loved hard and well, and his family always came first. As “macho” as he liked to be, he never denied he was a Mama’s boy and called our mom every Sunday until her death in 2022. He is preceded in death by his beloved parents, his sister, Melissa, and a very special cousin, Sandy Meeks. He is survived by his older sister, Theresa Inman; and his baby sister, Susan (Sean) Zemek; his brother-in-law, Keith Schewe; nephews, Chandler and Connor
Schewe, Justin (Katie) Inman, and Griffen Zemek; and his nieces, Christi (John) Brougham, McKinley Zemek, and Emerson Zemek.
The family would like to thank everyone for all the calls, texts and well wishes during this painful time. Steve gave the ultimate gift as an organ donor, so he will live on by giving life to others. In lieu of flowers, Memorial donations may be made to Phoenix Lodge #13- Scholarship Fund.
Rest easy, Steve, have a bourbon and stogie waiting for us. As he would say, “The Dude abides!’
