ALTAMONT — Hollis Lauren Stedman, who his family said “was very proud of his service” to his country, died on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017. He was 65.

He died at St. Peter’s Hospice Inn, surrounded by his loving family.

He was born on March 10, 1952, in northern New York, just shy of the Tug Hill Plateau, to Lauren E. Stedman of Osceola and Lulu F. Merritt of Camden — both in western New York.

Early on, Stedman developed a lifelong love of the outdoors.

“He had a lot of fond memories, messing around in the woods with his cousins. He learned how to use a gun early in life; he was into huntin’, fishin’, and campin’ — those are all without the ‘g,’” said Mr. Stedman’s daughter, Sarah Stedman.

He was very close to his father, his wife, Diane, said. Lauren Stedman and his seven brothers served in the military during World War II.

When Lauren and Lulu Stedman divorced, Mr. Stedman moved with his mother to Camden, and then Naples, Where he graduated from high school in 1970. After graduation, he worked for some time at Eastman-Kodak in Rochester, before enlisting in the Navy in 1975.

“He was very proud of his service, very patriotic,” Mrs. Stedman said.

“He looked on his time [in the Navy] with joy and honor … He was very close to many whom he served with,” Sarah Stedman said. “Many have reached out since he passed.”

His wife and children stayed in New York State; they never lived on base. “He wanted to make sure that Mom had a home,” Sarah Stedman said.

“He wanted me to be close to my family while he was overseas,” Mrs. Stedman said. The two had met in 1981.

“We kind of conversed for four months before we got together — once we got together, that was it,” Mrs. Stedman said about the beginning of their relationship.

“He was very attracted to this lovely lady in the fur coat,” Sarah Stedman said.

“He invited me to a Navy Christmas party … He said I could not go unless I wore that coat,” Mrs. Stedman said with a smile and laugh.

They celebrated 35 years of marriage this past July.

He was first assigned to dock landing ships: the Plymouth Rock LSD-29 from 1976 to 1979, and the USS Portland LSD-37 from 1982 to 1984. He was stationed off the coast of Beirut in October 1983, when the Marine barracks were bombed.

“That was a trying time for Mom and my stepsister, Jen, who were here at home,” Sarah Stedman said. Sarah had been born a month earlier, in September.

Mr. Stedman loved to talk about the seaports he visited, his wife said. “He saw a lot of Europe.”

“He missed being aboard a ship, but he wanted to be with his family more,” Mrs. Stedman said.

Sarah Stedman said that shipmate Franco Colamarco, who originally was outranked by Mr. Stedman, traveled from New Jersey this week to visit him in the hospital. Mr. Colamarco told the Stedmans that “he would always talk about his wife” while they were at sea.

In 1984, Mr. Stedman came home to his family and became a Navy recruiter, stationed on Washington Avenue in Albany. He retired from the Navy in 1995. He then worked at the Glenmont Job Corps before taking a job at the Military Entrance Processing Station in Albany in 1999. Mr. Stedman retired in 2013.

In retirement, and even before then, “he loved, loved the Adirondacks”, Mrs. Stedman said. “His whole demeanor would change as we got closer.” Once there, he continued to engage in his boyhood loves of fishing, camping, and hunting.

Mr. Stedman was a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, a member of the American Legion, and of the Legion Riders.

“It is evident that Hollis meant a great deal to the American Legion and American Legion Riders, due to the unending dedication this organization has to his family,” Sarah Stedman said.

“They are not going to leave her [Mrs. Stedman] alone,” Sarah Stedman said with a laugh. “There are so many men that … Her house will be maintained, her yard will be maintained … They are dedicated to his memory, they are dedicated to him, and they are dedicated to his family.”

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Hollis Lauren Stedman is survived by his wife, Diane Sharp Stedman of Altamont; by his daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Stedman of Boonville, New York; by two stepdaughters, Jill Bellows and her husband, David, of Scotia and Julie Brennan of Niskayuna; by five stepgrandchildren and one stepgreat-grandchild; and by his stepsister, Yvonne Rowell, of British Columbia, Canada.

His father, Lauren E. Stedman, who had lived in Osceola died before him as did his mother, Lulu F. Merritt, who had lived in Camden and his stepdaughter, Jennifer L. Brennan, who had lived in Altamont.

A memorial service will be held on March 10, 2018 at 11 a.m. at the Altamont Reformed Church at 129 Lincoln Ave. in Altamont.  

Mourners may leave condolences online at NewComerAlbany.com.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Legion or the American Legion Riders of Helderberg Post 977, Post Office Box 461, Altamont, NY. 12203.

— Sean Mulkerrin