Friday
21
March
Wake
4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Friday, March 21, 2025
Convent of Mercy Chapel
634 New Scotland Avenue
ALBANY, New York, United States
Saturday
22
March
Memorial Mass
10:00 am - 11:00 am
Saturday, March 22, 2025
Convent of Mercy Chapel
634 New Scotland Avenue
ALBANY, New York, United States
Obituary of Christoph J. Steppich
ALBANY -
Christoph Steppich was born on July 13, 1942 in Guenzburg, Germany. He died in Albany Medical Center on Thursday, January 30, 2025, after an eight-year battle with end stage renal disease caused by multiple myeloma.
Chris is survived by his loving wife, Deborah, and his daughter, Julia (Tom Felice). His younger brother in Germany, Peter Steppich (Brigitte) also grieves deeply for him. Chris leaves behind brothers-in-law, Daniel, David, Michael, and Timothy Dugan, nieces and nephews, including Julia VonSpecht (Moritz), Denise, Steve, and Lauren Dugan, Brian Dugan (Janet), Andrew Dugan (Liz), Matthew Dugan (Randy), Timothy Dugan (Anne), Meaghan Dugan (Ron), Erin Dugan-Rudd (Dave), Kevin Dugan (Ana), many grandnieces and nephews, including Grace, Helen, Daniel, Ethan, Conner, Jackson, Rowan, Olivia, Matteo, Ryann, Gavin, Daniel, and Elena. He is also survived by cousins in Germany, including Georgina (Siegfried Hoplitschek), Ursula, Bernadette, Peter, Karl, Klaus, Regina, Josef, Albertine, Anton, Christian, Stefan, Anna, Luise, and Imelda.
Chris was predeceased by his parents, Jakob and Anna (Schneider), and by his younger sister, Christina (Voglgsang), who died in 2013. Chris, Peter, and Christine grew up without a father. Chris’s father, Jakob, was sent to the Russian front as part of the Volkssturm movement, established during the last months of the War, by which males between the ages of 16 to 60 were conscripted and had little, if any, training or equipment. Jakob’s conscription was his punishment for being a devout Catholic and not attending Nazi meetings. Jakob knew when he was given a uniform covered with another man’s blood that he would not come home alive. He told his wife, Anna: “I know I’ll never see you again.” He died in Russian captivity somewhere in Siberia on September 4, 1945, probably from exposure and starvation. The gravestone in Christoph’s home village of Villenbach has a stone showing the Good Shepherd and his father’s name with the words (in German) “Far from home, rest in God.” Chris was three, his brother Peter was almost two, and his sister Christine had not yet been born when their father died in a foreign land.
Although Germany was in upheaval and turmoil after the War and people suffered poverty and hunger, Chris remembered his childhood as idyllic, and he loved the tranquility and beauty of the little Bavarian village of Villenbach, in which he was raised. Chris and his brother and sister were surrounded by loving grandparents, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Chris loved nature’s beauty and was knowledgeable about the flora and fauna of his native land. He loved to go mushrooming (and thankfully could tell which mushrooms were safe and which were deadly.) His maternal grandfather owned sheep, and Chris fondly remembered being lifted up to ride on a large hay wagon and being given a little lamb to hold and pet. Chris was an agile and avid hiker and mountain climber and had climbed many of the high, steep peaks of the Alps in Germany, Italy, and Austria. Together Chris and Deb climbed the Predigstuhl, an almost 7,000 foot high mountain in Austria. Chris found God in nature: the call of the birds, autumn foliage, blue Bavaria skies, starry nights, moss and ferns, volcanoes, ocean breezes, and mountain splendor.
Chris’s unique education formed him. From the age of 9, Chris lived in a Benedictine boarding school and was taught exclusively by Benedictine monks. His mother was proud that her children were the first in their village to be accepted by and educated in schools that provided an excellent level of education in the humanistic tradition. The monastic boarding school was very strict, and Chris would only see his family during Christmas and Easter vacations. When he did come home, he had to adhere to strict standards and was not even allowed to dance at local festivities and parties. Meals in the monastic boarding school were taken in silence, or someone might read from holy texts. Not only was he without a father, but he was deprived for long periods of human affection and interaction. Yet, he did not complain.
Chris went to the humanistic mission high school of St. Ottilien Archabbey. Before his father had been taken to War, he asked his wife, Anna, to make sure that one or all of the three children would join the church. Being the eldest, Chris dutifully studied to be a priest, but did so only because his mother was trying to fulfill the dying wish of his father. After graduating from high school in 1961, he entered the monastery and began his studies of philosophy and theology at the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich and at the Benedictine Pontifical University of St. Anselm in Rome. Chris was ordained and had his Primiz in 1967 in Villenbach. As he was fluent in many languages, he was chosen to be a language teacher. He studied modern languages at LMU, where he earned M.A. degrees for both French and English. He also studied French at the University of Nice in Menton, France during summer months. In 1977, Chris won a scholarship to study foreign language education at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland from 1977-1978.
It was in Edinburgh, Scotland where Chris and Deb met and fell in love while travelling with a group of fellow students through the beautiful landscape of Scotland, singing together all the way. Scotland was enchanting, and they were full of joy and energy. They shared the beauty of the Scottish countryside while touring along deserted winding roads, hills of fragrant heather, and the majestic long lochs reflected in the sky. Encountering another car driving along those Highland hills was so rare that when one did appear, cars would stop, and all would get out to greet one another. Frequently, one would have to stop or slow down for herds of shaggy Scottish sheep that always had the right of way. The Scottish people were colorful and friendly, but famous for their frugality. We had many funny tales to tell about the Scottish trait of frugality. But back then, Scotland was a poor country. There was very little central heating, and heating water for bathing was often a thorny economic issue with landlords. On the other hand, fresh morning milk was delivered by a horse drawn cart, and we would walk through a lovely park, the Meadows, each day to and from Edinburgh University. Those lovely memories are golden.
In 1980, after finishing his masters degrees in French and English in Munich, Chris moved to Albany, NY, Deb’s hometown, and became a Teaching Assistant at the State University of New York at Albany (SUNYA), teaching German Language and Literature while working on his PhD. He received his PhD. degree from SUNYA in 1986 with a dissertation pertaining to “The idea of the divinely inspired poet in humanistic poetry theory and Renaissance philosophy of Italy and in the poetry practice of German humanism.” His successful dissertation was developed into a book which was later published in 2002 under the title: “Numine Afflatur,“ (The Poet’s Inspiration in Renaissance Thought), which is available in over 108 libraries worldwide, in such esteemed University libraries as Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, the Sorbonne, etc. Deb’s big regret was that her German language skills were never good enough to read many of Chris’s German writings. When he was in the hospital in January, Deb told him that she wished that her German was good enough so that she could have read his books and articles with him and that he could have helped her understand the contents. His upbeat reply: “We’ll do it!”
He worked as an Associate Professor of German in the European & Classical Language and Culture Department at Texas A&M University (TAMU) for 24 years, teaching German language courses, as well as courses pertaining to Medieval and Renaissance literature. He also taught a very interesting course at TAMU about Martin Luther that was very well received.
Chris was the proverbial absent-minded professor. He forgot peoples’ names, birthdays, anniversaries, any and all dates, and was perennially late, which was hard to understand. Time was irrelevant to him. He was engrossed in the Middle Ages or the Renaissance. Relatives in Germany have recently revealed that tardiness was something of a family trait.
Chris had a keen and deep intellect, but did not know a lot of popular trivia. Thus, he didn't always know the common superficial things that divert most of us. When asked once if he could sing the well known Beatles song, Michelle, he said he’d never heard of it. Instead, he’d sing Gregorian Chant or would prefer to talk about a philosophical or theological concept of St. Thomas Aquinas. He knew things that only a few people know or value these days. You could ask him any question about the Bible, religion, philosophy, geography, or languages, and an interesting, edifying discussion would ensue, often with Chris giving the derivation of words in old Greek, Aramaic, or Hebrew. He was always happy to interpret or explain a text as a true exegete. As such, he proved an invaluable source in the analysis and understanding of theological issues.
He had a lovely sense of humor and was one of the few people who could tell a joke in Latin.
Once Deb and Chris were out for dinner and Deb asked if Chris could think of a game to play while waiting to be served. Chris suggested that Deb name all of the 54 countries in Africa. Deb recalled about half, but Chris knew them all. When Deb finally named them all, with Chris’s help, he suggested further: “Now, let’s do the capitals!” Of course, he knew them as well. He taught Deb chess and was a competitive marathon Scrabble player. One could always learn something interesting from Chris.
Chris loved music, had a beautiful baritone voice, and enjoyed singing in church choirs at St. Teresa of Avila Church, the Convent of Mercy Chapel, St. Vincent’s Church, and Mater Christi Church (formerly St. Catherine of Siena). He was fluent in Latin and could sing Gregorian Chant like an angel. While attending St. Teresa’s Church, he volunteered to bring communion to shut-ins. He was a proud Mercy Associate and loved attending all Associate events and chatting and joking with friends at the gatherings.
Chris was faithful and true blue. He was Deb’s one and only, and she was his. As Auden wrote:
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song…
He was a gentle, decent man of humility and handled his years of illnesses with quiet dignity and grace, uncomplaining about weekly dialysis and monthly chemotherapy, even when the treatments made him weak, ill, and exhausted. One of his chemotherapy nurses said: “I was better for having known Chris.” The 8-year battle of end stage renal disease and multiple myeloma was all consuming, but he fought the good fight to the end.
Although sometimes it was difficult for Chris to speak during the days he was in the hospital, he had moments of great lucidity and depth. Ten days before he died, he spoke with a strong, clear, energetic voice and asked Deb: “Have you experienced the new Grace? You get the new Grace just by staying there. The new Grace is coming into your heart now. Everybody needs it.” It was consoling to know that Chris was at peace and could express how he felt as he experienced being filled with the new, amazing Grace.
He also said more than once. “I want to go home.” “I’d like to work in the garden.” Finally, on his last day he said: “Love you. See you later.” (in German, “bis spaeter.”)
Chris was always a man of faith and helped others in their spiritual journey, not by proselytizing, but by words and action, going to church, praying, discussing theology, saying grace. That was his true gift that he gave generously… the best gift of all. He gave his love and care by educating and gently leading one towards God’s embrace.
To my dear Chris:
Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your Master’s joy. (Matt. 25:14-30)
May the angels lead you into Paradise.
May the martyrs receive you and lead you to the holy city of Jerusalem.
May the choir of angels welcome you.
And with Lazarus, who was once so poor,
May you have life everlasting.
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Friends and relatives are invited to visit with the family at the wake held for Christoph from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, March 21, 2025 at the Convent of Mercy Chapel, 634 New Scotland Avenue, Albany, NY. A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in the Convent of Mercy Chapel at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 22, 2025 at 10 a.m. Interment will follow in St Agnes Cemetery in Menands.
Contributions may be made in Christoph’s memory to the Sisters of Mercy, 634 New Scotland Avenue, Albany, NY 12208.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared with the
family online at: SimpleChoicesCremation.com
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