Steven W. Lawes

Steven W. Lawes, 65 of Gaylord, passed away on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at home. 

Born on Sunday, May 10, 1959, in Rogers City, Michigan, he was the son of Robert and Irene (Balteau) Lawes. Steve grew up in Rogers City, graduating from Rogers City High School in 1977. 

Steve went to work as a Merchant Marine, working aboard vessels on the great lakes for several years. During the Persian Gulf war, he worked on vessels in the gulf that provided supplies to the U.S. Navy. A high point of his time there was being at the wheel of a vessel through the Suez Canal.

In the early 1990’s, Steve settled in Gaylord where he worked as a self-employed carpenter and craftsman. He also worked at various other businesses through the years.

Steve will be remembered by his family and friends as a man with a huge heart. If anyone needed his help, he was there with his time or his money. He found joy in working hard and playing hard. Always responsible for bringing ice cream to family get togethers, he will be remembered by his nieces and nephews as “uncle ice cream.”

He enjoyed “tinkering” and could make almost anything work, even if his methods were “unconventional.” Sometimes, when anyone else would have given up, or thrown an item away, Steve could find a solution. He was “the duct tape king!”

Steve is survived by his daughter, Lindsay (Brien) Pfeister of Lady’s Island, SC; his mother, Irene Lawes of Gaylord; sisters, Janie (John) Stoner of Rochester Hills, Suzanne (Joe) Bur of Cheboygan, and Brenda (Doug) Snapp of Gaylord; brothers, Robert “Mike” Lawes of Rogers City, and Timothy (Tonia) Lawes of Gaylord; 19 nieces and nephews; 43 great nieces and nephews; and 2 great great nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his father, Robert Lawes; his grandfather, Arthur Balteau; and brothers, Jim, Bill, and John Lawes.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM Sunday, February 2, 2025, at Gaylord Community Funeral Home & Cremation Service where the family will visit with friends beginning at 12:30 PM. Those who wish are asked to consider memorial contributions in his memory to The Refuge, to help the homeless in Otsego County.

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