Mort Monroe Stepp

Mort Monroe Stepp, of Groesbeck, passed away Wednesday, March 14, 2012. Visitation will be Friday, March 16, 2012, from 5:30 to 7:30 P.M. at the Groesbeck Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 P.M. on Saturday, March 17, 2012, at the First Baptist Church of Groesbeck, with Dr. Tod Tanner officiating. Burial will follow in the Faulkenberry Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Greg Barnes, Tommy Cox, Rod Hobbs, David Parker, Richard Siler, and Tomy Sims. All former students and current students and staff of Parkview Christian Academy will be honorary pallbearers. Mort was born May 21, 1941 to Monroe and Fannie Stepp in North Little Rock, Arkansas. He grew up in El Dorado, AR and graduated from El Dorado High School in 1959. Mort was proud to have served in the U. S. Army/Artillery in Ansbach, Germany, for three years, during the height of the Cuban missile crisis. Upon discharge, he enrolled in college and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in history from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, AR, and later earned two masters degrees in counseling and education. For over 40 years, he was a teacher, counselor, assistant principal, and principal at schools in Minnesota, New York, Arkansas, and Texas. He was a counseler at Dardanelle High School (Dardanelle, Arkansas) for eighteen years. Mort moved to Groesbeck in 1994, and married Beverly Bennett Wilson on June 15, 1996. Mort taught in Groesbeck from 1994 through 2007, and he was presently a teacher at Parkview Christian Academy in Waco. At the age of 16, Mort was saved and baptized at Ebenezer Baptist Church in El Dorado. He loved his Lord and Savior Jesus, and was a devoted student of the Bible. He was faithful to use his gift of mercy as a counselor, and impacted many student and adult lives with his calm and reassuring demeanor. For 7 years, Mort blended his passions for helping young people and being outdoors by coordinating spring break camping and hiking trips for “at-risk” students to the Grand Canyon. Just days prior to his death, he returned to the Grand Canyon for one last trip with Beverly and grandchildren Krista, Ben and Jack. Mort was preceded in death by his parents; a sister, Jean Crossland; and a daughter, Beth Robinson. He is survived by his wife, Beverly; son, Helmut Stepp of Greenville; son and daughter-in-law, Greg and Jennifer Stepp of Denison; daughter and son-in-law, Ashley and Clint Garwood of Austin; grandchildren, Nathan Stepp of Stillwater, OK, Krista Stepp of Denison, Ben Stepp of Denison, Jack Stepp of Denison, Kristofer Stepp of Smackover, AR, and Audrey Garwood of Austin; sister, Nita Donaldson of Madison, AL; nieces, Patti Kuhl and Brenda Siler and her husband Richard; mother-in-law, Frances Bennett of Groesbeck, and many other extended family; former wife, Brigitte Olson of Smackover, AR; and best friends, Tommy Cox of Waco, David Parker of Groesbeck, and Mark Siedschlag of Thoreau, NM. Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church of Groesbeck or Parkview Christian Academy of Waco.