Stephen James Sarko, 64, of Coral Springs, Florida passed away on Thursday, June 18th, 2015. Known to most as Steve or Steven, he is survived by his wife, June; his children, Stephen, Sean, Michelle, Brad and Kerry; his mother, Therese; and his brothers, Tim (Wanda), and Don (Linda); and his sisters, Coletta, Terri (Bob) and Karen (Larry). Steve was an uncle to multiple nephews and nieces, and also leaves his dear friends Cindy and Lotus to cherish his memory. He was preceded in death by his grandparents; his dad, Steve; his son, Stephen; and his brother, David.

He began his life on November 17, 1950 as the first of seven children to proud parents, Steve and Therese Sarko. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio and in the late 1960's joined the Navy where he became a Corpsman and served his time at the hospital in Naples, Italy. He returned home in the early 1970's and migrated to Florida where his family moved in 1973. He went to school and began a career in Air Conditioning. He took his craft seriously and began working for a company called Sam and Bea Amira (Service America) where he worked for over 35 years before retiring at age 55. He qualified the company and was a mentor to many fellow technicians. He loved to teach and help each one to become the best they could. He was one of a kind and you definitely knew where you stood with him. He would tell it like it is and didn't care how you took it. He was always joking and thinking of new pranks to pull on you.

Five years before retiring, Steve met his wife, June, who thought he was arrogant and rude. He always would make her laugh though. One day after work he saw her sitting at the bus stop and asked what she was doing. She replied, "Waiting for the bus." He offered to drive her home and she was hesitant, until he said "I will not bite your head off!" and she agreed to go. On the way home they spoke and she found he was a very funny and nice guy. Two years later they got married and raised their families together. They recently celebrated 12 years together.

As a kid, about 13 yrs old, on the night before St. Patrick's day, Steve was making shamrocks to wear the next day. He figured since he and his siblings were only 1/2 Irish, they should only wear one half of a shamrock. Steve proceeded to make a whole one for his mother (she is full Irish) and cut the rest of the shamrocks in half for the children. This gesture became a staple for all of his parents friends as the husbands were not full Irish. When he entered his class wearing a half of a shamrock, his teacher asked him why and he told her "I'm only half Irish."

Steve loved to go to car races and was a season ticket holder for the Marlins from the opening day until they won the World Series and the team was disbanded. The night the Marlins won the Series, he got so excited he began high-fiving everyone and lost his balance! He landed 3 rows below, a cigar still in his mouth. It was a funny sight to see him laying there with a cigar in his mouth still high-fiving everyone.

June was terribly afraid of lizards and when she found one in the house, she started screaming. Steve caught the lizard and then preceded to chase June around the house trying to give her the lizard. If you know June, you know how funny this must have been.

His sister-in- law, Wanda, was at home one night with her sister in what they called their spooky house. Wanda asked her sister if she locked the front door, to which she replied "No." They both became afraid and locked themselves in their parents room after hearing a noise. They also called the police thinking someone was trying to break in. Wanda then called Steve and he went over to see what was up. When he got there he knocked on the door and no one answered so he began to bang loud and yell up at the window. When Wanda looked out she saw the police had arrived and Steve was banging at the door. You can imagine what the police thought and what transpired. Wanda thinks about this 40 years later and still laughs uncontrollably.

Another time, Steve had to pick up his sister, Karen, and run an errand to a friends exotic pet shop. Karen is deathly afraid of snakes. Upon arrival, the owner George heard the door and yelled for Steve to help him. A 9-foot python had gotten out of his cage! As Karen came around the corner she saw the python, screamed and ran out the door. Being winter and the sidewalks were icy, she ended up sliding across the sidewalk and under the car. When Steve ran out to see what happened he saw her and started laughing hysterically.

These are just a few of the fond memories of Steve Sarko. Please join the family on Thursday, June 25, 2015 from 12:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. at Coral Springs Funeral Home for visitation hours. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 A.M. on Friday, June 25, 2015 at St. Andrew Catholic Church.