Lawrence Stephen Karnowski, Jr, 70, passed away Saturday, March 4, 2017 at his residence after battling cancer. Funeral services will be held at Wesley United Methodist Church, N. Belair Rd, Evans, Georgia 30809 on Saturday, March 11 at 11:00 a.m. Visitation will be at Wesley on Friday from 6:00 p.m.until 8:00 p.m.
Steve was born in Kansas City, Mo but grew up in San Diego, CA and graduated from Grossmont High School. He married Susan Buck in 1966. Steve served in the US Navy SEABEES in Vietnam. He is a graduate of San Diego State University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. Bechtel moved Steve and his family from power plant to power plant until they landed in Evans in 1985 for good.
Steve will be remembered by the many lives he touched, most notably his three children – John, Steve III, and Marron (Harper) and eventually his grandchildren – Aaron, Bethany, and Rachel Karnowski, and Lawson and Landon Harper. His very large extended family of brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, and more cousins than we can count was very important to him. Moreover, in every place he lived, he made new life-long friends.
In 1994, Steve renewed his faith in Jesus Christ and developed a new mission in life – serving the Walk to Emmaus Community for many years and then at Marvin United Methodist Church. After the love of his life passed away from cancer in 2006, he joined Wesley UMC and became active with Men in Missions to build wheelchair ramps and repair damaged homes, organize charitable collections for the annual yard sale, and participate in international mission trips to Kenya and Honduras.
He is survived by his mother-in-law Janet Buck, his children and grandchildren, sisters Beverly Heisterberg (husband Jon) and Karen Wheeler (husband Bob), brother Thomas Karnowski (wife Debbie), sisters-in-law Jan and Nancy, and all their children. He is preceded in death by his brothers Dennis, Tim, and Chris.
In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations made in Steve’s name to Wesley United Methodist Church’s Men in Missions or other designated missions of one’s choosing.