John Stephen Mandic Obituary (1952 - 2019)

John Stephen “Steve” MandicApril 6, 1952 – September 8, 2019Steve Mandic passed away suddenly on Sunday, September 8, 2019 in Layton, Utah.Steve was born a poor country boy in what he considered the real America, the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As a young boy, he nourished his scientific curiosity by performing experiments, such as examining if leaded gas has the same effect on the human body as it does on the great invention, the automobile. The results were inconclusive.He loved science and technology. His uncles taught him that his body could be a conductor of electricity and how to replace a spark plug wire on a lawnmower. As a natural teacher he was happy to share this knowledge with his brothers and cousins.He is well known as the only living human being who ever saw a Kangaroo in Bucks County Pennsylvania. Most folks, to include another witness, swear that it was the three legged dear that lived in the woods behind the family farm, he stuck to his guns. It was a kangaroo.Keeping true to his American roots, he celebrated the bicentennial by joining the U.S. Air Force in 1976. It was there where he met his wife of 43 years, Lucinda “Cindy” Rowe. In the USAF he excelled as a Minute Man Missile Technician. After eight years of active duty he continued to serve as a civilian contractor as an aerospace engineer, or as he liked to say, being a rocket scientist. He served his country honorably as both an active duty Airman and a civilian contractor for over 40 years. He loved his country, Science, Technology (except cell phones), Astronomy and his gun collection. His proudest achievement, however, were his two daughters April and Amber.He taught them the wonder of the stars above and instilled in them a great love of music. His legacy lives on through his family and his personally curated music collection, “Steve’s Greatest Hits”.He was best known to his family and friends as a reasoned thinker with a great sense of humor. He would have enjoyed this obituary. He may have even said it was too serious. He often called himself the most social antisocial person.He is survived by his wife, Cindy, daughters April Thacker (Monty) and Amber (Chris German), brothers Christopher (Sheila) and Kevin (Teri), sisters Kathy Keeler (Dave), Lori Ferrizzi (Joe) and Jana and many nieces and nephews and a great nephew and niece who all loved him dearly, his Aunt Teresa (Schlitz) Pradle, uncles Robert and Michael Schlitz and dozens of cousins from both the Schlitz and Mandic families who all had a special place in their hearts for their favorite nephew and cousin.He is preceded in death by his father John and mother Catherine (Schlitz), and his best friend ever, Buck the Dog. A celebration of life will be planned at a later date.