It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved Stephen.
Stephen Danielsen burst onto the scene in August of 1968. This blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy of Norwegian-Croatian heritage was the second of four children born to Per and Antonette Danielsen. He was preceded by sister Tina-Marie and followed by brothers Anton and Vince. His life was characterized by vitality, optimism, generosity, musical talent, and an uncanny ability to connect with and befriend others. Heaven’s gain is our great loss.
The Danielsen family raised their children “on the hill” in East Vancouver and Steve enjoyed many days of adventure playing with his brothers and friends in the neighborhood. Steve entered school at Franklin Elementary but later transferred to Vancouver College (VC) for his Grade 3 year. He and his brothers commuted together from the ‘hood to VC for 10 years. Steve was at the centre of countless hilarious memories inside and outside the classroom. He was active in sports, playing basketball at a JV level and football/track at the Varsity level. He was a proud “Grad 86” and kept in touch with many of his classmates all his life.
After high school, Steve pursued his true passion: music. He and the ESCAPE band toured Western Canada with their big hair and big sound. Steve has always had a passion for playing and teaching music. He personally taught thousands of people over countless lessons. Many of these students became close friends. Steve truly lived out his belief that “music changes everything”. This motto became the basis for his newly built Strumeo Music studio.
In 1990, Steve went to work for Nu-Skin. When the company decided to open their business in Taiwan, Steve boldly jumped at the opportunity. He moved to Taiwan and quickly learned Mandarin. Leveraging his charisma and ability to develop relationships, he built a 7,000-person organization that continues to this day. As a tall, blonde-hair, blue-eyed man, one of his favourite things to do was to surprise a server in a Chinese restaurant with his Mandarin-speaking ability and create an instant connection. This example is just one of the ways that demonstrate Steve’s ability to turn strangers into friends.
Friendship building is Steve’s most unique and defining characteristic. His childhood and school friends became life-long friends. All his life, he built incredibly close bonds through his community, work, and music. So many people would name Steve as their closest friend. He had a way of making people feel that they were the most important person in the world and he always created a unique relationship with each one.
The only thing more important to Steve than his music and friends were his family. He enjoyed a close relationship with his mother Antonette, his sister Tina-Marie and his brothers Anton and Vince. The family is characterized by generous love, boisterous laughter and a welcoming spirit. Steve has three children: son Ty, his “mini-me”, and daughters Danica and Nicole. Steve was always a night owl, and each of his children remembers having late-night moments of genuine peace and wonder with Dad/Papa/Steve. Each family member was vitally important to Steve and he shared a deep bond with them, constantly expressing belief, support, and love.
In 2013, Steve reconnected with Donna Crema who he had known from 35 years ago and is “a girl from the old neighbourhood”. The two quickly fell in love and married in 2018 after 5 years of courtship. While cancer cut their relationship short, Steve and Donna were truly soul mates, enjoying the relationship, laughter, and love during their time together.
Heaven will need to purchase a whole new set of Marshall amplifiers and they will need to procure a new batch of earplugs. It’s about to get a whole lot more fun up there!
Steve will be lovingly remembered by his wife Donna; children Nicole (Frank), Danica, Ty; grandchildren Piper and Linden; his mother Antonette and his siblings Tina-Marie (Stewart), Anton (Nicole), Vince (Colleen); his nieces and nephews (Luke, Hannah, Sam, Paris, Jasmine, Nate, Max, Cole, and Mya); his in-laws, the Crema and Ryan families (Anna, Sandra, Hugh, Liam, Massimo, Flavia, and Lorenzo). Stephen was predeceased by his loving father Per in 2001.
We’d like to express our sincere gratitude to all the nurses and doctors at Langley Memorial Hospital for their kindness and compassion during Steve’s final days and deep appreciation for Dr. Randeep Mourh who provided consistent clinical and emotional support throughout Steve’s journey with cancer.
Due to COVID-19 concerns, a small private family service will be held. When we can gather again, a celebration of Steve’s life will take place with all his amazing family, friends, and students.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the BC Cancer Foundation would be greatly appreciated.