“The best part of a good man’s life is his little
nameless acts of goodness and love.”
This sentiment penned by William Wordsworth epitomizes the life and legacy of Carroll’s Steve Harper.
In addition to his three-decade tenure as a Computer Science Department mainstay, Steve was a record-setting race walker, an adventurer, and self-proclaimed multi-continental tour guide.
However, a list of accomplishments and accolades cannot adequately capture the life and legacy of Steve Harper. It is most beautifully underscored through the unique way he made those around him feel.
Brent Northup, chair of Carroll’s communication department and a friend, says it’s the small moments he will remember longest.
“There was a day, years ago, as I was preparing for a 4:30 class, that I looked up to find Steve Harper in my doorway,” said Northup. As Steve’s office was a full campus trek away from my own, I jokingly asked if he was lost and needed to be pointed back home. He looked at me and said, ‘No, Brent – I just came to check on you, and see if you were doing OK.’”
Northup says Carroll is defined by those who have loved us without pretense, and carried us through the sunshine and the rain .
“Those special loving folk hold us together,” said Northup. “And he was one of them, along with Sister Annette and John Downs, to name just two.”
A collection of reflections and wishes from those who knew and loved Steve Harper circulated early last month. Some share lighthearted moments of pun-inspired costumes and uncanny Monty Python parallels, while others underscore the value and dignity with which Steve treated each individual person with whom he crossed paths.
Steve was once asked about his teaching philosophy.
“A good guide will help you avoid the really devastating 300-foot falls, but you still have to walk the trail yourself,” he said.
Past students fondly recount stories of a man whose consideration extended beyond the classroom into their personal lives, citing Steve’s mentorship as a turning point in their lives and careers. The Harpers are a generational Carroll family, and there is no better descriptor of Steve than that of a generational guide.
Such stories all contain Steve’s acts of goodness and love, He was seen as “quirky, kind” net sincere. Steve Harper was a man made of a million little acts of kindness made lovely by the way he loved.
The community will forever miss the quiet intention, generational guidance, and little acts of love carried by the man in the big, floppy sun hat.
A service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15, at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in celebration of the life of Steve Harper. Loved ones are invited to share condolences and memories at www.forevermissed.com//steve-harper.