Stephen Kopcha, Jr.

Stephen Kopcha Jr. (Steve) of Altamonte Springs, Florida passed away on Sunday, September 12, 2021 at Advent Health Hospital Altamonte with his loving wife Anne Marie and daughter Carey Anne constantly by his side. Steve was born on December 4th, 1941, in Elizabeth, NJ, the eldest of 2 sons of Eva and Stephen Kopcha Sr.

Steve, his wife and daughter relocated from Elizabeth, New Jersey to Altamonte Springs, Florida in 1972 where he lived until the time of his unexpected and heartbreaking passing.

Steve had a great passion for his family, his friends and for life overall. He was fun to be around and always liked to make people laugh. Everywhere Steve went, he would always run into people he knew.

Steve gave no less than 200% of his energy to all the interests he had, which included baseball, history, cars, dinosaurs, model ships and trains to name a few. Steve also built large model airplanes, boats, ships, and historic guns all from raw materials. Steve also had a passion for travel, both domestic and international, for his country and for current politics.

Because of Steve's intense interest of Christopher Columbus, he and his family have traveled the world, visiting many countries and various islands that Christopher Columbus had visited, including a tiny island in the Canary Islands (La Gomera) where Columbus collected water for his armada before crossing the Atlantic to the great unknown.

Professionally, Steve worked for H.K Porter (NJ), Continental Testing Labs (FL), QWIP Systems, a division of Exxon Enterprises Inc (FL), and ECC International Corporation (FL) where he remained for 20+ years. At ECC, as a Lead Mechanical Engineer, Steve assisted in the development of military defense and maintenance training simulators for the Sikorsky UH 60 Blackhawk helicopter, the McDonald Douglas F16 and F18 fighter jets, McDonald Douglas C17 aircraft, the Chrysler M1 Abram tank, the FMC Bradley fighting vehicle and the Rapier Defense System (UK). Post retirement, to keep active and support his love for interacting with people Steve teamed up with Universal Studios CityWalk (15+ years), as a security officer, which was so different than what we had trained for in his career and he loved it. When reflecting on his work history, Steve would always say he never worked a day in his life because he truly loved all the jobs that he had.

Steve is survived by his wife Anne Marie of 56 years, his daughter Carey Anne and his brother Robert. Steve will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, September 23, 2021 from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Newcomer Funeral Home - South Seminole Chapel, 335 E. State Road 434, Longwood.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, September 24, 2021 at 11:00 am at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, 861 Maitland Ave, Altamonte Springs, FL.

Interment will follow in Highland Memory Gardens, Apopka, FL.

To share your memories of Steve, or leave a special message of condolence for his family, please visit the guestbook below.