Stephen Scott Fehr (Steve), born 1 March 1942 in Lebanon, PA to Stephen Anthony Fehr and Lydia Viola Scott, passed away 18 June 2020 in Chesapeake, VA, age 78, to complications from heart disease. Steve is survived by his wife Sandra, his sister Betsy Sherman, his brother Robert Hostetter, his children Stephen J. Fehr and Melissa J. Fehr, his daughter-in-law Melissa M. Rush Fehr, his son-in-law James O'Brien, his granddaughter Megan Fehr, and Logan Rush whom he considered his grandson.
Steve grew up in Lebanon, PA, where he played football and played coronet and sousaphone in the marching band. He worked in the iron mines of Cornwall Furnace before enlisting in the US Navy in 1962, and served for seven years as an aerographer (meteorologist) and cryptologist, advancing to AG-2. He served a combat tour in Vietnam attached to the US Marine Corps, and was proud of his service. He spent time in Taiwan, the Philippines, and London, but most fondly spoke of his service in Germany where he learned to speak German and loved German food and beer.
Steve used his GI Bill benefits to attend Shippensburg University, in Shippensburg, PA, where he received Bachelors and Masters degrees in Political Science, and tended bar part-time. He met Sandra Kemmerer at Shippensburg, marrying her 23 December 1971.
Soon after graduation, Steve began a career as a Planning Analyst for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, where he retired as the most senior zoning officer in the state. He and Sandy lived for a brief time in Harrisburg before moving to their home in Dellville, near Duncannon in Perry County, PA where he lived on an acre of rural woodland along Sherman’s Creek, where his two nearest neighbors were hunting cabins. He served on the school board for West Perry School District, where he was instrumental in significant building projects and school system improvements, and served for many years on the Perry County Planning Commission. He left a long positive legacy on the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, West Perry, and everyone he met. Steve later moved to Chesapeake, VA, to be closer to his son and grandchildren.
Steve was a life-long and avid Penn State Football fan, tailgating most home games for years, eventually buying a condo in State College. Steve’s wife and both children earned degrees from Penn State University. Steve enjoyed sports photography and local sports of all sorts, and was a frequent contributor of photos to the sports section of the local newspapers. He also enjoyed sitting by Sherman’s Creek with a beer and his DLSR camera, taking wildlife photos.
Steve authored a number of professional publications for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and two books, Letters to Mom, a memoir of his military service, and Tails of the Trail, a chronicle of Appalachian Trail hikers passing through Duncannon, PA in 2002.
Steve was an extremely generous man. He brought joy to everyone he met, and would rarely let friends or family pay for their own meal or drinks. In lieu of flowers or cards, we ask that you raise a toast to Steve, and that your final gift to him be a donation to a charity of your choice that he would be proud of.
A small private service will be held for Steve June 25, 2020 in Chesapeake, VA. Streaming video of the service will be available at https://www.grahamfuneralhome.com/ as well as a guest book for friends and family to share their memories of Steve and condolences. A wake is tentatively planned for Steve one year from his passing, June 17, 2021, at The Pub in Duncannon, PA with burial at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery.