Mr. Steven Carl "Steve" Westlake, 76, of Elkhart, passed away peacefully of natural causes on Monday, February 19, 2024 at 9:33 pm at Elkhart General Hospital. He had been in ill health recently.

Steve was born on January 27, 1948 in Elkhart to the late Roscoe Cleone and Cora Emma (Huss) Westlake and is survived by his former spouses and mothers of his children Faith Gonzalez of Goshen, Pamela J. Gordon of St. Petersburg, Florida and Pamela J. Westlake-Turley of Elkhart. Throughout the years, a mutual friendship and respect always remained between them all.

Also surviving are Steve's sons Steven S. Westlake of Battle Creek, Michigan, Matthew J. Westlake of Westland, Michigan and Casey L. (Carmen) Westlake, Christoper J. (Leslie) Wingard and Brian J. (Shannon) Wingard, all of Elkhart; grandchildren Taylor, Cora, Summer, Larkin and Alexandria Westlake, Treyjen Tyler, Erik and Kailah Wingard and Ellissa Doles Burnham; great grandchildren Jayla Marlow, Tobias Fendley and Ezra Yowell-Westlake, as well as a loving host of extended family, good friends and neighbors including Steve's very good friend Dave Bravard and his faithful Chesapeake Bay Retriever Cody, who accompanied Steve practically everywhere.

Steve was a faithful and dedicated firefighter for the city of Elkhart for 37 years and served as engineer for Engine 6 on Elkhart's near northside. All would agree that Steve poured his heart and soul into his career and always considered the welfare and safety of others before his own. He embodied the spirit of brotherhood and couldn't help but constantly watch over the well-being of his comrades. After he retired, he developed a habit of procuring lunch or dinner for entire station shifts, always taking pride in being able to feed his brothers and sisters on duty.

When Steve wasn't down at Station 6 rescuing the world from its problems, he enjoyed escaping the drab cityscape and venturing into the great outdoors, where he would travel with his family up to the Traverse City area to go camping and just give his mind a rest. He loved getting out into the "wilderness" and would even take quick drives on seemingly lost back roads just so he could catch a glimpse of something wild. He appreciated all the wonders that nature had to offer, and he was known to hang out for hours, just gazing out across the St. Joe from his deck with an iced tea in one hand and patting Cody on the head with the other. His appreciation for the outdoors remained a lifelong obsession. At home, he loved to visit with his kids and grandchildren, call family members and chat on the phone and fight with idiots on Facebook.

Services for Steve will be held at Billings Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Elkhart, beginning with a visitation there on Friday, February 23, 2024 from 4-7 pm. Funeral Services will then be held on Saturday, February 24, 2024 at 12 noon, with visitation taking place one hour prior. Billings Funeral Home Chaplain Jeremy Sarber will officiate, and firefighter honors will be rendered Saturday by Division Chief Dave Cushwa and the Elkhart Fire Department Funeral Honor Guard, as well as Bagpiper Lenny Sailor. In accordance with his wishes, cremation will follow Steve's services.

In lieu of flowers, the family would like donations to be made to any Veteran's or Emergency Services charitable organizations such as the Wounded Warrior Project or the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

Wounded Warrior Project
PO Box 758516, Topeka KS 66675-8516
Tel: 1-855-448-3997
Web: http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

Tunnels to Towers Foundation
2361 Hylan Blvd, Staten Island NY 10306
Tel: 1-718-987-1931
Email: donationsupport@t2t.org
Web: https://t2t.org/donate/

A Veteran or Emergency Service Organization of Your Choice