Steve “Steelhead” Van Paepeghem passed away on Maui on June 16, 2025, after a brief illness with cancer. Steve was a unique, fun-loving, creative, and generous man who lived his life with gusto and left us way too early.
Steve was born July 18, 1949, in Orange, California, and spent his youth surfing the Southern California beaches.
He met Julia (Rose) Van Paepeghem in 1968. They married in 1970 and moved to Adna in 1971 to raise their two children on a little farm. After 40 years of marriage, they parted ways and Steve moved to Maui.
Steve spent his early years in Lewis County working for Kinnear Doors Mill, and if he wasn’t spending time with his family, he was fishing the Toutle and Cowlitz rivers, catching so much steelhead that he earned the nickname “Steelhead.” Always an entrepreneur, Steve created several businesses: Woodstoves & Spas Unlimited, Wildtrout Publishing, Billboard Real Estate Magazine, NorthWest Real Estate Guide, and Wildtrout Gallery. Inspired by nature, Steve enjoyed picking up rope off the beach and making unusual art with it. Steve’s unique art, carpentry, photography, poems, and jewelry reflected his uncanny way of viewing the world and his creative spirit.
The last 14 years of his life he spent in Nahiku, Maui, enjoying his retirement and spending time with his son, Matthew, and island friends who knew him as “Steely.” Always a jokester, he enjoyed bringing a smile to everyone he met.
Steve is survived by his son, Matthew; daughter, Chandra Price (husband Ken); grandchildren, Madeleine Jansen and Ryan Jansen; former wife, Julia; father, Charles (96 years); and brother, Kevin. He was preceded in death by his mother, Virginia, of Centralia, and two siblings, Leta and Chris.
A small private memorial will be held to celebrate Steve’s life in Hana, Maui. He will be greatly missed. Like Steve’s favorite John Prine song, “Fish and Whistle,” we know he is happily “whistling and fishin’ in Heaven.”
