Obituary of Stephen D. Crist

Stephen David Crist was entered into rest on Tuesday, November 19, 2024.  He was 83 years old.

The eldest son of the late Floyd Stephen and Margaret (Morrison) Crist, he was born November 23,1941 in the Cornwall Hospital, Cornwall, NY.

A devoted and loving father, grandfather, great grandfather, brother and friend, he was the widower of the late Roberta (Bobbie) L. (Waters), born in 1943 in the Town of Newburgh, NY.  Stephen and Roberta were married at St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Church in Cornwall in January 1963.

Survivors include two daughters, Margaret (Meg) E. Comeau of Milton, Delaware (the late Robert), and Jacqueline M. May of Camden-Wyoming, Delaware (Keith), a son, David J. of Burlington, Massachusetts, granddaughters Danielle Arceneaux and Sarah Comeau, grandsons Evan May, Andrew May, and Harley Crist, and great-grandsons Griffin and Noah Arceneaux. Stephen was preceded in death by his younger brothers Edward (the late Louise), of Highland Mills, New York, and Robert of Deerfield Beach, Florida.

Steve was a career United States Air Force senior non-commissioned officer who served our country from 1959 to 1983 as aircrew.  He served two tours in Southeast Asia, first as chief of the theater job training program, and then as a loadmaster for the EC-130E airborne command post.

His many service awards include the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal with seven clusters, the Air Force Commendation Medal with one cluster, the Army Commendation Medal, and the (French) Order de la Brigade. He is credited with 2502 total flying hours, with 1488 of them in combat.

Following his retirement from active duty, Steve earned his private pilot’s license and served as a First Lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol. In addition, through work he remained airborne in the development of computer-assisted weather forecasting programs and the collection of airborne particulates. He shares two U.S. patents for the design of fixed-base data collection.

Steve next worked for a large, multi-national corporation, first as a laboratories manager, and later as a member of its explosives detection group. As an active participant in the War on Terror, he was credited with several substantial accomplishments and contributions by both foreign and domestic government agencies.

Steve was an alumnus of the Cornwall High School class of 1959 and a graduate of Western New England College, the Community College of the Air Force, and a distinguished graduate of the United States Armed Forces Institute of Technology.

Steve was a proud member of the Cornwall Volunteer Ambulance Corp from 1967 to 1969.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a Graveside Service on Saturday, November 30 at 12 pm at the Pine Haven Cemetery Chapel, 84 Bedford St., Burlington.  Services will conclude with military honors.  The family requests contributions in Stephen's name be made to the charity of your choice honoring current and former service members or the Trevor Project.