Steve Peck

Steve Peck, son of Carolyn and Roy (R.G.) Peck, was born on August 3, 1951, in Berkeley, California. After an eleven-year battle with kidney cancer, Steve passed away at home peacefully on Tuesday, July 14, 2020. He was preceded in death by his father, Roy Peck, and is survived by his mother, Carolyn Andrews Peck, of Blue Springs, Missouri; wife, Pam Johnson Peck, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri; daughters, Laura Peck, of Saint Clair Shores, Michigan and Sarah Peck, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri; son, Brad Peck and his wife, Melanie Briend and grandsons, Finn and James Peck, of Mission, Kansas; sisters, Debra Trefz and husband, Bill, of Blue Springs, Missouri and Lisa Peck, of Seattle, Washington, and many other loving relatives.
Steve grew up in El Sobrante, California, a small, Bay-Area community, where he spent most of his days, from sunup to sundown, playing baseball. Over the course of his childhood and teenaged years, Steve received multiple awards for his outstanding athletic ability in all sports, but primarily in baseball and then later in basketball and golf.
After graduating from DeAnza High School in June of 1969, where he lettered in both baseball and basketball, Steve was drafted by the San Diego Padres as a pitcher in the 7th round of the Major League Baseball draft. However, he chose to pursue college instead and attended Graceland College in Lamoni, where he earned scholarships to play both baseball and basketball, and completed a Bachelor of Arts in Education in 1973. While at Graceland, Steve led the Yellowjackets in multiple pitching and offensive categories. His many athletic contributions included a Missouri College Athletic Union Conference title in baseball in 1971, with a record of 11-1. Steve was also selected First-Team Heart-of-America All-Conference and was twice selected All-District, NAIA District 15 in baseball.
After college, Steve began his teaching and coaching career, first at Mt. Ayr, Iowa, and then later in Lamoni, Iowa, teaching children with learning disabilities. He then received his master’s degree in special education from Northeast Missouri State University in 1980. Steve married Pam Johnson later on that year, on August 8, in Santa Rosa, California. They made their first home in Lamoni, Iowa, where they taught school and had their first two children, Laura and Brad. Steve was also the varsity baseball coach, junior varsity basketball coach, and golf coach while he taught at Lamoni High School for over ten years.
In 1987, the family moved to the Kansas City, Missouri area where their third child, Sarah, was later born. Steve taught special education and coached baseball, basketball, and golf at Raytown South High School for twenty-five years. During his years at Raytown South, he received multiple coach-of-the-year awards and coached five outstanding high-school players who went on to play professional baseball. Steve retired from teaching in 2012 but continued coaching baseball at Truman High School, in Independence, Missouri, until retiring completely from coaching in 2018.
Throughout his life, Steve was always on the go. Besides playing golf, Steve loved fishing, watching old Westerns on TV, playing catch, riding bicycles with his kids, and sharing his knowledge and passion for sports and life with others. Steve will continue to be an inspiration for all of those who knew him as the one-of-a-kind husband, father, brother, son, friend, coach, mentor, and person that he was, and he will be in our hearts and memories forever.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Steve’s name and memory to one of the following programs: Graceland University baseball; Lamoni High School baseball; Raytown South High School baseball; Truman High School baseball; Lamoni Golf & Country Club; or to The University of Kansas Cancer Center.