Robert Stegner Obituary

Robert (Bob) George Stegner, 88 of Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, surrounded by his family.
The beloved son of John and Stephanie Stegner, he was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, on October 17, 1936. Bob was a wonderful, devoted, godly man with a passion for life, a long career in the aviation industry, and a deep adoration for his family. Bob married his high school sweetheart, Jeanne (Salak) Stegner (d.1992), in 1956 and began a career as a mechanic with Capital Airlines before joining the United States Air Force. There, he excelled in propeller maintenance on C-123s, C-124s, C-130s, and his all-time favorite, the C-133 Globemaster. He received numerous accolades and achievement awards before his honorable discharge as a Technical Sergeant in 1970.
His thirteen-year military career took him across the globe to Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, California and Guam, with his last station at Homestead Air Force Base in south Florida. After the military, he worked in the insurance industry. Ultimately, he decided to return to what he really loved, aviation maintenance. The family relocated to Florence, South Carolina, where he furthered his education by earning his Airframe and Power plant license. This enabled him to begin his own successful business, Aeroswift Maintenance and Painting in Darlington, SC. Known for his quality service and meticulous attention to detail, repeat customers like NASCAR drivers, Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison, would travel great distances for his aviation services. During these years, he was also an inventor and was awarded a patent for an aircraft engine magneto test machine. In the mid-1980s, his career led him to Pensacola, FL to serve as an aviation college professor at Burnside Ott and Pensacola Jr. College. As part of his instruction, he restored an N-2S Stearman biplane and J-3 Piper cub, both of which are still on display at Pensacola's Naval Aviation Museum, as well as another antique aircraft in Washington, D.C.'s Smithsonian. Later, he and Jeanne moved to Dothan, Alabama, where he was employed at Pemco Aeroplex as a Quality Control Inspector and FAA Designated Airworthiness Representative. Always a loving and devoted husband throughout their thirty-five years of marriage, Bob took care of Jeanne during her long battle with cancer until she passed in 1992.
As a soul well-wired for relationship and commitment, in 1995, he fell in love with and married Nancy Rogers-Stegner. They lived in Santa Rosa Beach, FL and shared many wonderful and loving years, being the consummate grandparents to their combined family of children and grandchildren. He had a short career as a Realtor with Nancy at Abbott Realty until their retirement, which allowed them to travel, spend summers on the bay; and he also spent many cherished days supervising their grandchildren's woodworking projects in "Gpa's workshop". He even had time for his own aviation and automotive hobbies, restoring a 1939 OTW Myers antique aircraft and his award-winning 1952 Dodge pickup truck. Throughout their twenty-eight years of marriage, they remained a faithful and devoted couple until Nancy's passing in 2023.
Bob, himself a cancer survivor, was a man who rose to all challenges in life and fought his battles through prayer. Goodness, kindness and love were his personal ministry. He was known for his amazing and much-admired quick, dry wit, peppered through every conversation, and was able in a split second to lighten the mood with smiles and laughter. One only had to know Bob to instantly see that he was a gentle, godly man displaying all the Fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-restraint. He submitted his life and obedience to Christ. His life was his testimony; his family, his legacy; his earthly reward, an incredible long life and a loving family full of the fondest memories; and his eternal reward, his Creator's loving embrace.
The family extends their sincere thanks to the staff at The Blake in Miramar Beach, FL and the caregivers at Crestview Rehabilitation Center for their caring and compassionate support of their father during his time with them.
Bob is survived by his children: daughter-in-law, Lynn Stegner; son, Brian Stegner (JoAnn) of the Philippines; daughter, Robin Conway (Patrick) of Watsonville, California; daughter, Karen Craig (Tony) of Roswell, Georgia; daughter, Denise Stegner of Santa Rosa Beach, FL; son, Christopher Stegner (Jennifer) of Crestview, FL; stepson, John Rogers (Gabriela) of Houston, Texas; stepdaughter, Clare Clawson of Niceville, Florida; and step-son, Clint Rogers (Kim) of Santa Rosa Beach, Florida; twenty-four grandchildren; seven great grandchildren; and numerous nephews and nieces. He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Stephanie Stegner; his first wife, Jeanne Salak-Stegner; his brother, Frank; his son, Robert S. Stegner; and his second wife, Nancy-Rogers Stegner.
The family will receive friends at Resurrection Catholic Church, 259 Miramar Beach Dr., Miramar Beach, Florida, on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. with a Mass of Christian Burial to follow at 11:00 a.m. Friends are invited to join the family for a reception from 12:00 p.m. until 1:00 p.m. in the church reception center. A private family interment will be held at Gulf Cemetery in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.