Steven Ray Gorton died suddenly on February 4th, 2023. He was born to Ray and Alene Marie Gorton on February 21, 1961 in San Jose, California, where his father worked for Qantas Airlines. When he was 3, his parents moved the family back to Kansas, where both his mother and father were born. He lived in Lawrence, Kansas until he was 12, developing a lifelong love of the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team. His family then moved to Platte City, Missouri, a rural town north of Kansas City. He was a long distance runner in high school and also ran several marathons. However, he longed to live in the forest and be near the mountains. So, when he was 18, he drove a beat up truck as far north and west as needed until he found a forest. He also knew if he drove much further north, he would be in Canada. In October of 1979, he pitched his tent up in the mountains in Troy, Montana and began to fish, hunt and trap. He lived in Troy off and on for several years, occasionally coming back to the midwest to earn money so that he could go back to the mountains and the forest. He worked as an owner/operator of a semi-truck over the road for 7 years, driving just about everywhere in the United States, but continuing to be based out of Troy. He worked as a Reporter/Editor for The Montanian Newspaper and as News Reader/News Director at KLCB radio station, both in Libby, Montana. Along the way, he made many lifelong friends in Troy and Libby. In 1996, his father asked him to come back to the Kansas City area and work in the family business. He returned and began to work as a freight forwarder for Direct Air Transport. When his father retired, Steve took over the business. After the move back to Missouri, he met Leslie Lancaster and they fell in love. Steve and Leslie were married on April 24th, 1999 and they had two children, a son Samuel born in 2001, and a daughter, Abigail in 2002. Unfortunately, Leslie died of cancer in October of 2010, leaving Steve with two young children. He cut back on his business and concentrated on raising Samuel and Abigail. Steve was the best father and his two children are a testament to that. In 2012, he met Mary Pickert. Mary had two sons and was also widowed. They fell in love and Steve told Mary he wanted to "revolutionize" their lives, as living in the suburbs was not for him. He still longed to live near the forest and the mountains. In the Summer 2013, Steve, Mary and the kids all went to Northern Idaho and Montana for a vacation. In the fall of that same year, they bought a house with some acreage just north of Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Steve and Mary were married on October 3, 2013 and moved to Bonners Ferry with Samuel, Abigail and Mary's youngest son Matthew. Steve took care of their chickens and cows; and loved being back near the mountains and forest. He was a weekly visitor at the Mountain View Mennonite Church and cherished that congregation.

Steve was a wonderful father, husband, son, brother and friend. He was also a great writer and would have written a much better obituary than this one. He never knew a stranger and was always ready to lend a hand when someone needed help. He was preceded in death by his father Ray Gorton; his wife Leslie Gorton; and his father-in-law Bill Lancaster.