Steven Garverick

Steven Lee Garverick was born April 5th, 1957. He died after a sudden illness on September 26th, 2013, aged 56.

Steve is greatly missed by his parents, Helen and Sheldon, his brothers Tim and Randy, his daughter Susan, and his friends and colleagues.

Steve graduated from Lexington High School, OH as valedictorian. While in high school, he was also an avid member of the jazz band, playing the saxophone. He proceeded to MIT where he received four degrees, culminating in a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. Steve was a proud member of the MIT baseball team. He also enjoyed playing Dungeons and Dragons, and listening to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. After graduating, Steve worked for General Electric. Over six years he made important contributions in several areas, including ultrasound technology and X-Ray fluoroscopy. Steve's ideas were impressively forward-looking; some are just starting to realize their full commercial potential. He holds dozens of patents.

After leaving GE, Steve became a professor at Case Western Reserve University. At the time of his death, more than twenty years later, he was still at Case as full, tenured professor. During his career Steve displayed an impressive intellectual flexibility. Known as one of the best analog circuit designers in the world, he applied his skills to diverse areas including biomedical technology. During his career he took year-long sabbaticals to work for Movaz Networks in Georgia and West Wireless Health Institute in California. This past summer he was working for the Air Force, although he declined to tell his family exactly what his project entailed.

Steve was unfailingly modest despite his fierce intelligence. It sometimes seemed that his ideas appeared magically, because he never betrayed excitement even when a breakthrough was imminent. Outside of work, he lived well within his means and handled his personal affairs with an impressive attention to detail. Steve was an enthusiastic early adopter of green energy and was the proud owner of one the first Prius hybrids to be imported to the US.

In 1989 Steve suffered a major stroke. When he emerged from a coma unable to move, doctors thought he would never walk again. Displaying a truly remarkable will to live, and inspired by his young family, he astounded all observers with a full recovery over several strenuous years. In fact Steve went on to a life full of physical activity. Among many other things, he was an avid biker and lately held a place at the top of the family Fitbit rankings by routinely walking over eight miles a day, including to and from work.

Steve loved to travel. With his late son Scott, he visited Germany and Japan. Recently inspired by Lee Child's novels, he adopted a minimalist approach, rarely packing more than a small duffel bag. He planned on living an increasingly nomadic lifestyle as he got closer to retirement, traveling across the country to visit his family.
In the last years of his life, Steve had become active at the First Unitarian Church in Shaker Heights. He was a member of the Forum Committee and the Covenant Walking Group, volunteered for the Helping Hands Group, and took part in Family Promise.

Throughout all, Steve was committed to family above anything else. He was expecting his first grandchild and could not have been more excited. We will miss Steve dearly, and we will always remember how quick he was to a smile.


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