Steven Evans Cummings, 71

Steve was born Sept. 28, 1950. He was all those labels that people his age could acquire. He was a baby boomer, a teenage husband, a hippie, a yuppie. He was a proud father to two boys and grandpa to five grandchildren. Steve was kind, with a great sense of humor. He was the sort of person that everyone liked. He seldom raised his voice or argued with anyone.

He died June 7, 2022.

Steve was the son of Bayliss and Rausie Cummings and grew up in Kalispell. He went to Russell grade school, Flathead High School, and Montana State University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics in 1972. He was an exchange student to Denmark in 1968-69. He married his high school sweetheart, Susan O’Connell, in 1970. They were married for 52 years.

Steve worked as a computer programmer for Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas until 1975. He then went to the University of Washington law school and received a doctorate in law in 1979. He worked in Seattle for two years for the Roberts, Shefelman firm as an attorney. In 1981, he joined the Murphy, Robinson, Heckathorn and Phillips law firm in Kalispell. He worked there until 1996 when he and Sue decided to take a year-long sabbatical and travel. When they returned a year later, he joined up with the group of Christensen, Moore, Cockrell and Cummings where he spent a number of very enjoyable and worthwhile years practicing law until he retired in 2012.

Steve was a brilliant lawyer who said his job was not to represent people in a lawsuit but to get the documents correct so no one would need to go to court. Steve made top grades in high school and college and was second in his law school class at the University of Washington. He was on the Bar Review, a high honor for law students.

Steve was a dad who put his family first and was always there for Pee Wee baseball, soccer, swim team, or speech and debate. He was the running leg on the family triathlon team. He showed up when grandchildren played ice hockey, sang in choirs, performed in plays, and played in bands.

Steve was loving, patient, kind, respectful, and brilliant. He found joy in his family, his friends, his vineyard, wine making, and a well-earned retirement. Steve suffered from Lewy body dementia, which is an under-recognized and under-diagnosed condition. We request that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association as they are actively seeking a cure for this common dementia that is second only to Alzheimer’s in frequency of occurrence.

Steve is survived by his wife, Sue; his sons, David (his wife Dawn) and Jay; and his grandchildren, Emma, Margo, Bayliss, Beckett and Oliver.

Please join friends and family for a memorial service at 10 a.m. on June 23 at the FVCC Arts and Technology Building.