Robert Steppe

Mr. Robert Neil Steppe, 79, passed away Thursday, April 2, 2020.  He was born in Lafayette, Indiana on June 3, 1940 to the late Robert Albert and Peggy Williams Steppe.  Survived by their son, Bob of Lewisville, NC, their daughter, Barbara of Knoxville, TN, and their respective spouses, Lory and Eric; nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.  A service will be held at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery.  Mr. Steppe was an Army Special Forces Command Sergeant Major retiring after 31 years of service to a farmer’s life in East Tennessee.  He follows his wife, Linda Girard Steppe, two years after her passing and 55 years of marriage.  Together they ventured the world - strong, tough mid-westerners - who took on life’s hardest challenges with practicality and hope always finding their way no matter how great the odds.  Ultimately, they returned to a life of quiet peace tending a flock of sheep with a clan of Border Collies in the Tennessee foothills – lives well-loved.