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F. Steven Etheridge, 66, of Moline, passed away Sunday, August 12, 2018 at Unity Point Trinity, Rock Island.
Funeral services will be 10am, Thursday, August 16, 2018 at Rafferty Funeral Home, 2111-1st St A, Moline. Visitation will be 2-7pm Wednesday at the funeral home. Burial will be at National Cemetery, Rock Island with military honors conducted by American Legion Post 246, Moline, where he was a former member. Memorials can be made to Quad City Animal Welfare or Police Benevolent and Protective Association.
Steve was born November 18, 1951 in Moline, the son of Floyd S. and Ida (Mattson) Etheridge. He was a US Air Force veteran serving during the Vietnam War. He married Susan Prior on June 22 1985, in Mt. Vernon, IL.
Steve retired as Public Safety Director for the City of Moline on March 2, 2005, where he served as the inaugural, combined Police Chief and Fire Chief. On June 16, 1975, he began his career with the Moline Police Department and was selected Moline Police Chief, October 7, 1990. Steve was instrumental in the building of the new Moline Police Department. He also served as Interim City of Moline Administrator. He was a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Moline Jaycee’s. He graduated from the FBI National Academy. He volunteered at the “Grunt Dome” with the John Deere Classic Golf Tournament. He met daily with his Panera Cronies Breakfast Club. He was also an avid golfer, fisherman and “Mr. Fix-It”. Most important was his family and the time he cherished with his grandchildren.
Survivors include his wife, Susan; children, Melissa (Chad) Wilke, Naperville, IL and their children, Mackenzie and Grant; Marcey (Jason) Millage, Moline, and their children, Graysyn and Tatum; Steven (Hanna) Etheridge, Moline and their children, Braydon, Mia and Stella; his mother-in-law, Marlene Peterson, Moline; sisters, Belinda (Tom) Charleton, Mt. Vernon, Carol (James) Dolian, Reno, NV; brother-in-law, Michael (Fran) Thibodeaux, Davenport; sister-in-law, Karen (George) Miklas, LeClaire, IA; many loving nieces, nephews and the best neighbors ever, Todd and Sue Rosenthal and children, Keeley and Ryan. He was preceded in death by his father-in-law, Jerry Peterson and niece, Krista Ryser. http://www.raffertyfunerals.com/sitemaker/sites/raffer0/obit.cgi?user=27965263_FEtheridge
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Julie DeClerck (Jones)
Here is another article about Steve's wonderful career in the Moline Police Department including his time as Chief of Police:
https://qconline.com/news/local/friend-leader-lost-in-death-of-steve-etheridge/article_290266a3-d107-541a-b9a2-4dd91a7043ff.html
Whether it was a helping hand, guidance, a laugh or a meal, Steve Etheridge could provide.
F. Steven Etheridge, who had led Moline’s police and fire departments and served as the city administrator, died Sunday, according to the Moline Police Department. He was hired in 1975 and served as its chief from 1990 through early 2005.
He was 66 years old.
Stan Leach said he worked with Etheridge after becoming mayor. He described him as an excellent administrator and head of Moline’s public safety departments. He was someone on whom Leach could bounce ideas.
“He told you not what you wanted to hear but what you ought to hear,” Leach said Monday.
Etheridge was always a step ahead, but people could always trust what he said, Leach said.
Moline Police Chief John Hitchcock joined the department when Etheridge was chief. When Hitchcock started, officers were still doing paper reports. Etheridge helped bring about computerized reports and got a new radio system for the department.
Etheridge also helped establish community policing philosophy in the department, including the department’s various substations, in Moline, Hitchcock said.
“He was a really good chief,” Hitchcock said. “He had vision and he wasn’t afraid to act on it.”
Even so, Etheridge was approachable, he said. People could come to him, and it is a trait Hitchcock said he tries to emulate as chief.
Leach said Etheridge also worked to improve the department’s diversity.
His biggest success was his ability to work with people, said Don Welvaert, another former Moline mayor who was an alderman when he worked with Etheridge.
He also started the process that would lead to the new Moline police station, Welvaert said.
“He saw it through just about to the end,” Welvaert said.
Moline Alderman Mike Waldron, 7th Ward, said Etheridge was a mentor when Waldron became a Moline city department head.
From Etheridge, Waldron said he learned to respect the elected officials as policy makers as well as the employees, from janitor to city administrator.
Etheridge always wanted the best for his officers, and Waldron said he worked closely with the chief to ensure the police had good vehicles.
The two former mayors and Etheridge were more than just colleagues. They were part of a group that fishes every year in Canada.
Both men said Etheridge was one of the group’s primary cooks on the fishing trips.
Welvaert said Etheridge could cook all kinds of things, and the trip breakfasts ranged from bacon and eggs to waffles.
A moment that stuck with Welvaert from the Canada trips was when Etheridge tore off part of the boat’s motor after striking something while showing someone the area.
“In typical Steve fashion, he just laughed it off,” Welvaert said.
The group also worked on houses together — for fun, for friends, he and Leach said.
On those projects, Etheridge’s hand was on everything from the carpentry to the plumbing, Leach said.
The former police chief was also a collector, Leach said. One of his interests was tractors — just plain old lawn tractors. Etheridge had a garage full of them.
“He’d fix them up and they’d just sit there,” Leach said.
He described Etheridge as the spark plug, the live wire of their group — a person never knew what he would do next.
“It’s so hard to think of not having him around,” Leach said.
Welvaert said their group would meet Monday through Friday at Moline’s Panera. The conversation would range from politics to golf.
“Solving the problems of the world,” Welvaert said.
They had been talking about the fishing trip, coming in September.
“We saw Steve at Panera on Friday morning,” he said.
Etheridge took a pass on golfing that day because he had family coming into town, Welvaert said.
The trip will go on despite their loss, Welvaert said. So will the Panera meetings. They met Monday.
“That’s the way he’d want it, and that’s the way we are going to keep it,” Welvaert said.
Etheridge died at UnityPoint Health-Trinity Rock Island, according to Moline’s Rafferty Funeral Home. He is survived by his wife, Susan; children; grandchildren; and other relatives.
He was a U.S. Air Force veteran, a graduate of the FBI National Academy, and a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and of the Moline Jaycees, according to his obituary. He volunteered at the John Deere Classic.
Memorials may be made to the Quad City Animal Welfare Center and or the Police Benevolent and Protective Association, the obituary states. Condolences may be left at raffertyfunerals.com.