Stephen Bruce Lister

Stephen Bruce Lister, born March 22, 1975, in Kansas City, MO, passed away Friday, January 31, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. in the Kansas City Hospice House with his family by his side. He was a member of Village Presbyterian Church. Stephen battled cancer bravely for two years. He was an avid Jayhawk, Chiefs, Royals, and Kansas City fan, he loved his hometown, friends, and family above all. He passionately researched the weather, spending the majority of his career as a Geographic Information Systems Analyst and tornadic forecasting researcher, after finishing a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. As a child, he played soccer, basketball, and football, but loved music most of all. He started as a trumpet player in grade school like his father and then transitioned to percussion in high school. Passionate about music, his interests were wide and diverse, from Peter Gabriel to A Tribe Called Quest, from jazz to punk. And in the words of his favorite band, Jamiroquai:

“I'm here again with a sunshine smile upon my face My friends are close at hand And all my inhibitions have disappeared without a trace I'm glad, oh, that I found… Somebody who I can rely on.”

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Advent Nurse’s Memorial STEVE LISTER For those who don’t know me, my name is Alyssa. I work at AdventHealth and was one of Steve’s radiation therapists throughout his years of treatment. I had the pleasure of getting to know Steve over the last few years. Steve became more than just another patient to not just me but our entire staff. After receiving the news of his passing, I went around the cancer institute sharing the sad news and reminiscing with different staff members on the joy Steve brought to each of us. From the front desk staff, all the way up to the doctors who cared for him— he will be remembered forever. I remember the first time i ever encountered Steve. I heard his “not so inside” voice echoing down the hall. He seemed anxious. So i asked him about the song that was playing from his phone. He quickly started to educate me on his favorite bands and songs from the 80’s & poof the anxiety had gone away. We quickly learned how healing music was to him & MAN did he love his music!!! We also learned that we had just met the biggest Chiefs fan here in KC. He also loved to crack a joke or two, just to get a smile out of whoever he was talking with. In regards to his health, Steve may not have been given the best hand of cards but he still prioritized being a good friend and making people smile. He loved making people laugh, and i don’t think he ever had any idea just how needed some of those laughs were for me. I wish the world could have gotten to know Steve in the way I did. He was extremely intelligent & could make the meteorologists on tv look like amateurs. He would call us girls every friday afternoon to give us a weather report for the weekend & to tell us to be safe. Steve’s reports never failed us, so much so, most of us just all together stopped relying on our weather apps and instead would just wait for Steve’s reports! Steve had a huge heart and cared deeply. He lived to appreciate those in his life that really got to know him and care for him. Linda, i know you and him would but heads from time to time but he would always tell us girls how much he cared about you. Back in October of last year i remember Steve telling me how grateful he was for you and that if he didn’t pull through this time, he hoped that you would find peace after he was gone. He said “my mom is tough but she’s had to be tough for everyone else for so long. i just hope she can find peace and be happy once im gone” And that is the epitome of Steve. He might get a little rowdy and keep you on your toes, but by the end of each appointment we all had huge smiles plastered on each of our faces. Steve taught us to love each person we encounter with patience, kindness and maybe a little humor too. His legacy will live on at AdventHealth & and with each of us forever. Thank you.

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Hello all thank you so much for being here today. My name is Courtney and I was one of the lucky ones to have grown up with Steve for the past 38 years. We are a group of friends, 6 fellas and I, all navigating life together since 6th grade... pretty wild..and pretty cool and also pretty rare. what fun, young, mid-age life we explored. Now, I know some of you Are Listers, but to us, but to us he IS Lister..or Listaaa.... he always brought the silly, the joy, the goofy and the funky music. He knew and loved his sports with a deep passion for his KC roots.. He was always in for the group getting together. friendships that exponentially grew cause our friend group always expanded with MORE cool friends just by the baseline of the love of music that we shared that was the foundation to our core group. He may not have been down for board games or school but the personal side of life, thats where that man thrived. He loved the laughter, even if it was at his own expense...One thing he always brought, which I don't believe we understood at our young age, is that he always brought the emotion. In a time where Emotional Intelligence wasn't a thing, I think maybe Steve was onto something more that most guys, or men, in those decades knew or understood. Little did we know the humaneness he emobdied. When I was thinking back about all of our years together, whether we were in her early teens 13 14 15 or our late late teens, or early twenties, or our mid twenties, or early thirties, no matter what Steve had these big emotions that maybe he just didn't have words to. As Dave, Mike, Linda and I were sitting in his his room at Kansas City hospice, Linda was talking about just how much he calculated things in his head...and boy, ha, I can remember us sitting around talking of worldy teenager things and you could just tell he was thinking something, calculating something, maybe we thought the gerbil had stopped on its wheel, but more than likely not, more than likely that gerbil was on overtime! It makes me smile on the inside thinking of Lister thinking haha simple as that... but also knowing he was just emoting internally...loving, calculating, feeling with his brain and soul and trying to figure out how to vocalize it, but also just being his age, wether it be teens, twenties, thirties, foutries. Steve had his ups and downs, right, I think we all do.. maybe, his were a little bit higher and a little bit lower.. maybe that was part of his quest was to figure out emotions and feel them, or the words to describe them.. But also, isn't that a part of being human? Of living this human life? I can tell you that he was always fueled by love.. he also brought so much laughter, and so much light around with him. I'm very thankful that my formadible years and the years that we were so malleable, we experienced that part of humanness with Steve. At the core of who I am, I believe that he was the one that taught us about true and honest friendship, about loyalty of that friendship, about our bond, cause back then, that was the main story line of our lives. That's what we had to care about. That's how big our world was. And in those daily headlines he taught us about being a shining light with others, and around others by just being yourself, about laughter and the humility to enjoy the razzing from best friends, and most of all, kindness.... cuz those years aren't easy, but I know for me, those 6 guys were my world and it is so deeply ingrained in me, that they still are and always be, wether it is from here or from the stars. We were all such important ingredience to that magnificant pie, we were one of a kind. Steve is such a big part of who I am as a person, and who I will still strive to be. Kindness wins. And I ask that of you too, I hope that in his remembrance, you feel his light and his love and hear his laughter, and think of the unique joy he brought to our hearts. He's around..! feel him. Our friend group was talking the night of his passing, as heart broken as we all were, we started reminiscing about the memories through the tears, laughing at the silly moments, some I remember clear as day, some are a little foggy...but the laughter these memories we still have brings back this vibe of giddy, of being young, mostly innocent, fibbing, not totally but The Oh My Gosh remember whens" were filled with laughter and that is truly a gift... then the sentiment came- he'd be so happy we're all just chatting and laughing together again.... that's truth!! that's all (for the most part) he ever wanted.. the laughter... and the joy.... and the camaraderie in the friendship (and a chiefs, jayhawks or royals dynasty and Jamiroquoi playing in the United States). He lived for it! I can honestly say all of our lives touched by Steve.. Keep the memory of his kindness and light at the front of the list of things you remember about Steve. That, for sure, is what he would want.