Egon Franz Steinebach shuffled off this mortal coil on Jan. 8, 2018.
He was born in Dessau, Germany, on Feb. 20, 1940, to Johanna (Stein) and Franz Steinebach. At age 6 he escaped the Russian sector with his family by walking all night across the border to the west, arriving finally in the village of Vallendar near Koblenz where his parents were from originally.
He immigrated to Canada with his family in 1957 and lived in North Vancouver, B.C., for most of the years between 1957 and 1998.
After securing his credentials in photography from the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, California, he spent most of his career working as a photographer, segueing into theatre lighting design in 1989. He was a member of the professional stage workers union (IATSE) and designed lighting for over 100 productions
In 1998 Egon came with his sweetheart, Carolanne, to the Methow Valley. Together they bought The Merc Hardware store and converted it to a theater space, ran it for 10 years, eventually passing The Merc Playhouse on to the community.
Egon was also a fine musician playing harmonica and guitar with many local bands.
He leaves behind a large family to mourn his passing: siblings Helga Ahlbrand, Arone (Shiolo) Hamend, Hannelore (Klaus) Grewsmuehl, Peter (Inga) Steinebach; his ex-wife Diane Jacelon; sons Richard Steinebach, Justin Steinebach, Stefan (Carly Higo) Steinebach and Armin (Alia) Jiwani; his wife, Carolanne; step-sons Paul and Mischa Fenz; grandchildren Michael Murphy, Krista Ann Edwards, Olivia Strobel-Steinebach; and one great-grandson, Robert Edwards. He was predeceased by son Michael Steinebach, and grandson Brody Strobel-Steinebach.
A celebration of Egon’s life will be announced at a later date.
