Steven M. Bock

Steven M. Bock, 46, died Feb. 17 at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

He was born Oct. 15, 1958, in Brooklyn, N.Y., and grew up in Chappaqua, N.Y., where he attended Horace Greeley High School.

He earned a bachelor of science degree in accounting practices and theory at California State University, Northridge, in 1983.

He spent most of his adult life in San Jose, Calif., and on Bainbridge Island.

He was an advisory software engineer at the IBM Corporation in Seattle. He also worked as a software engineer and technical consultant for IBM for various customers sites in the United States, Canada, France, Australia and China.

He received numerous awards, including the Outstanding Technical Achievement Award from IBM for his significant contributions to software development.

He was instrumental in bringing Video Remote Interpreting Service to IBM as a work-related accommodation option for the company’s deaf and hard-of-hearing employees in the United States and Australia.

He enjoyed traveling for business and pleasure, and photographs of his children went everywhere with him.

At home, he enjoyed fine cuisine and preparing gourmet meals for guests at dinner parties. He liked playing the stock market, and enjoyed friendships with people from around the world.

He is survived by his children and their mother, Christl, Michael and Nancy Bock of Bainbridge Island; his mother and stepfather, Ulrike and Robert Proctor of Sierra Madre, Calif.; brother Lawrence (Diane) Bock of Olivenhain, Calif., nieces Quincy and Tasha of Olivenhain; members of a large extended family in the United States and Germany; and his fiancée, Rebecca Adam of Sydney, Australia.

He was preceded in death by his father, Richard Bock.

A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. March 5 at Grace Episcopal Church on Bainbridge Island.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to one of Bock’s favorite charities, or alternately, to a college fund established for his children: Lighthouse for the Deaf-Blind, P.O. Box 14959, Seattle, WA 98114; National Center on Deafness, California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge, CA, 91330-8023; The Silent Garden Endowed Chair, California State University, Fresno, CA 93740-8023; Northwest Kidney Centers Foundation, P.O. Box 3035, Seattle, WA 98114; The College Fund, payable to “Christl and Michael Bock’s College Fund,” c/o Lawrence Bock, executor and trustee, 3663 Lone Dove Lane, Olivenheim, CA 92024.