In memory of our friend,
Stephen M. Niles - N5EN (ex-KD5AIJ)
March 31, 1956 - November 19, 2012

Steve joined the Texas DX Society in 2010 as member number 175 and had 332 DXCC entities confirmed and credited.  He was also a member of the Northwest Amateur Radio Society (NARS), Ten-Ten International (#68668), and the American Radio Relay League.

From Steve's memorial service held at Cypress Bible Church, Cypress, TX: December 1, 2012

Steve was born on March 31, 1956 in Shenandoah, Iowa.  He made a commitment to Jesus Christ at the early age of 18.  During a personally challenging time, God brought a family into Steve's life that made a tremendous impact at an important time.  They loved and accepted him and included him in their lives.  As a result of their ministry, Steve came to know Christ and made his own commitment to follow Him.

As a young adult, Steve was trained and ministered to others as a drug abuse and alcohol counselor.

Steve's interest in sound and technology started at a young age.  He worked as a professional sound technician as a young adult for traveling music groups including Clint Black and Frank Breard (drummer for ZZ Top).  Frank Beard and Steve became lifelong friends.

After Steve got married, he ended his travels with music groups and began employment with Daniel F. Young, Inc. as a manager for 21 years.  During this time, he had a daughter named Jill.  After 16 years, that marriage came to an end.

After six years of being single, God brought Nancy into his life through the ministry at Cypress Bible Church and they were married on July 6, 2002.  This made Steve a stepfather to Nancy's four children: Trisha, Logan, Morgan and Lyle.  During their early years of dating and marriage, Steve taught Nancy how to use a computer and provided coaching and all the technical materials Nancy would need to develop her own media ministry at Cypress Bible Church.  As Steve would say, "I am the techy, Nancy is the talent."  This continued until the present.

After Steve's employment with Daniel F. Young ended, he went to work for Hewlett Packard.  Steve was a very skilled Information Technology Manager who worked many hours to provide technical support to a large number of people.  To his personal friends, Steve was always available to help with technical or sound related issues.  He enjoyed the opportunity to share his expertise and assist others.  Many friends relied on Steve as their personal IT guy.

In early September of this year, Steve began to experience the first symptom of his illness.  At the time, it was thought to be the flu or food poisoning.  A week later, Steve called in sick to work for the first time in 8 years.  Steve's health continued to decline, and a series of tests were run throughout September.  Steve was hospitalized in early October with what was thought to be an infection in the liver.  Steve was diagnosed with non-alcoholic liver cirrhosis.  Steve was referred to a liver transplant specialist to see if he was a candidate for a transplant.  During their assessment, they discovered that Steve had liver cancer.

On October 29th, Steve was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer.  Even though this was difficult news, Steve and Nancy were relieved to know what had been causing problems for Steve for the last two months.  Steve decided not to pursue further treatment due to the potential negative side effects of the treatments which would only slightly lengthen his life but would not cure the disease.  Steve readily embraced the future - "I will accept whatever is God's will".

During the diagnosis, the doctor suggested Steve would likely have six to eight months to live.  The Lord's will was different than this.  Steve went home to be with the Lord 21 days later on Monday, November 19, 2012.  Nancy's desire and prayer for Steve was that he would not suffer.  God took Steve home in an expedient manner.  Steve went to be with the Lord in his sleep.

Steve was a hardworking, generous man.  He enjoyed serving others and it was a source of great joy when he could use his skills to help others, especially when he knows it would further the ministry of Christ.  Steve was an avid amateur radio operator (N5EN) and appreciated the many friendships he developed through this interest.  Steve was also a collector, especially of computer or technically related items.  He never wanted to throw something away in case he might need it to help somebody in the future.

Steve leaves behind his wife Nancy (N5EEN), daughter Jill, stepchildren and their families: Trisha and Martin Perez, Tyler, Justin, and Ashley Perez; Logan and Justine Hill and Gabriel Winter; Morgan Hill and Lyle Hill.

He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

Donations in memory of Steve can be made to Cypress Bible Church, 11711 Cypress N. Houston Rd, Cypress, Texas 77429.