(From Barbara M. on FB)
Steve Chase, a branch and national leader of the SWP over many decades
passed away on July 2 of internal bleeding. His beloved sons, Joey and
(Nate)
Nathaniel Chase were with him in a Denver hospital when he died. He was 77.
Steve grew up in Boston with working class and radical roots. His
father, Joe, and his Uncle Homer were communist and trade union
activists in a group they called Hammer and Steel.
Known to have almost encyclopedic knowledge of working class and
Trotskyist history and more, Steve read broadly gobbling up book after
book of history, politics, and literature. This was so despite the fact
that he never graduated from high school. He helped educate many in the
movement, not only about labor history and Marxism, but he had a good
sense of strategy and helped members apply it in movements and mass
organizations.
Steve was a branch organizer in most of the cities he lived in and led
in the formation of new SWP branches in Washington, D.C. and St. Louis.
He also played a leading role getting a fraction into the steel industry
in Chicago during the fight for democracy in the steelworkers union.
Little appealed to Steve more than "shooting the breeze" with comrades
or those who would amble into the bookstore, and I'm sure this must have
been true on the job. He was gregarious and enjoyed finding out what
people were thinking and about their lives, where they were from, and
what mattered to them. His often humorous interchanges were sprinkled
with aphorisms like "what's life if you don't take chances," or "a
little paranoia never hurt anyone." And then if he ever heard someone
slight someone else in any way, Steve would devastatingly retort "Well,
he always spoke well of you!" Those are only a few I remember now.
His former partner Marie Head and he raised two sons.
The family moved to Denver where Steve worked as a machinist for many
years with a municipal water company.
Joey recently graduated from law school and took a job with a legal aid
group. Nate is a professional classical musician as well as a political
activist.
Steve developed Parkinson's Disease and coped with it for many years. He
had mild symptoms until before the pandemic when the disease worsened,
and Steve needed to enter a nursing home. His son Nate told me that
recently some of the symptoms happened to have improved, but something a
few days ago caused internal bleeding which in turn caused Steve's death.
If you'd like to express condolences or rembrances to Steve's family,
please email Nate at:
[email protected]
or share remembrances here.
I am very grateful both politically and personally that Steve was a part
of my life.
Steve Chase, Presenté!
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