Steven "Steve" Frank Ulbredtch

Steven Frank Cassell Ulbredtch, 71, passed away at Bonner General Hospital on October 31, 2022. Steven had several serious health issues which he battled for more than two years. Steven entered Bonner General Hospital around October 10, 2022, with a high fever due to infection in his blood. The source of infection is unknown, but a port put in for chemotherapy became infected, and the infection spread through his blood stream and into a microvalve in his heart. The port was removed but not before a piece of undetected infectious vegetation broke off and entered his blood stream. 

About two days later this infectious material went to Steve’s brain and he suffered a massive stroke, rendering his left side and his right leg paralyzed. He could not eat or drink. During the next two days we saw some movement in his limbs, but he soon had a second stroke that left him unresponsive. Finally, pneumonia set in, filling his lungs with fluid. Steve’s body did not respond to the antibiotics and the pneumonia had spread too far. There was not enough time to try another medication. The pneumonia quickly took him home to be with Jesus. 

Steven (Steve) was born on October 8,1951, to Alfred L. Cassell, Sr. and Sue Ann Blythe, in French Camp, California. Steve had an older brother named Alfred L. Cassell, Jr. Within a year after Steve’s birth, the boys’ father abandoned his family, never to return. Sue Ann, a single mother, tried to raise her two sons but struggled with finances, responsibility, and the conflict between two young siblings.

When Steve was six years old, the family moved to San Jose, California. Sue Ann continued to struggle with raising her family. She worked hard but the pay was low and providing for her children took its toll. At first, Sue Ann put her older son, Al, in a private orphanage school in Napa, California. Later she decided to bring Al home and put Steve in foster care where he suffered some abuse from foster parents. Sue Ann wanted a better life for her children so she put them in foster care so they could have their needs provided. She did not know about the abuse until later.

Sue Ann eventually met and married a man named Ludvig Gerhart Ulbredtch in California. The couple took Steve in and eventually moved to North Idaho. They first lived in Edgemere, then the outskirts of Spirit Lake. Finally, they moved to the Colburn area, where they had a dairy farm.

At age 17, Al entered the U. S. Navy, serving three years in active duty and two years in the reserves. Meanwhile, he married a woman named Darlene, and had two children, Bonnie, and Corey. Al did not even see his brother, Steve, for years at a time. After Al got out of the Navy, he moved to North Idaho.

Steve attended Sandpoint High School for his freshman and sophomore years. Because of behavior challenges, Steve’s parents put him in the U. S. Marine Corp to teach him discipline and responsibility. He entered boot camp in San Diego, California, on December 27, 1968. Before his two weeks of boot camp were over, Steve caught pneumonia. He went to Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego where he spent nine months undergoing medical care, fighting 106-degree temperatures with ice and alcohol baths. Steve suffered Organic Brain Injury from the high fever and his lungs were damaged and still contained fluid. On October 21, 1969, Pvt. Steven Ulbredtch was honorably discharged from the U. S. Marines and permanently retired due to physical disability.

After his discharge, Steve moved to North Idaho to be with his family and finish high school. There he met and married his first wife, Joan Elsaesser. The couple lived in the Sandpoint area for a brief time and then moved to Spokane, Washington. Steve and Joan had five children, four sons whom all live in north Idaho: Adam, Paul, Seth, and John, and a daughter, Jennifer, who died in childbirth. The couple eventually divorced, and both Steve and Joan returned to North Idaho. Joan lived in Elmira and Steve in Sandpoint.

During his life, Steve worked doing ground maintenance for the school district in Spokane. In Idaho, he worked at sawmills before his disability and later as a part-time janitor in various places in Sandpoint.

Steve later married a woman named Linda, who left him after only one month.

In 1991 Steve met Robin Miller-Ely who had also been divorced. She and her two sons, Brandon, and Justin, lived in an apartment complex in Sandpoint; Steve lived about four doors down in the same complex. Steve and Robin became friends, and in 1994 they were married.

After 27 years of marriage, Steve went home to be with the Lord, Jesus Christ. He is proceeded in death by his grandparents, several aunts, uncles and cousins, his stepfather, his mother Sue Ann, and a daughter, Jennifer.

Steve’s survivors include his brother, Al Cassell, nephew, Corey Cassell and his [Corey’s] son, Cameron Cassell, of Kennewick, WA; his wife, Robin of Sandpoint; his sons: Adam from Spokane, Paul from the Coeur d’ Alene area, Seth, from Bonners Ferry, John, from Rathdrum, Justin Ely of Kootenai, and Brandon Ely, from Seattle, WA. Steve is also survived by 12 grandchildren, a cousin, Pam Williams, and her family from California.

Steven will be cremated and put in a niche wall at Pinecrest Memorial Park. A small family service for this will be held later.

A memorial service for Steven Ulbredtch is scheduled for November 12, 2022, at Regeneration Calvary Chapel, located at 130 McGhee Road in Sandpoint. The church is located on the second floor of the Lighthouse building, above the new VA Clinic. Coffee and fellowship time will be scheduled from 9:30-10 a.m. and the service will follow.

Anyone wanting to give a memorial gift can donate to Helping Hands and Healing Hearts or to the Good Samaritan Inn building project. Helping Hands and Healing Hearts is located at 530 Pine Street in Sandpoint. Their website for Helping Hands and Healing Hearts is www.helping7b.org  Jon and Cathy Pomeroy, Co-Directors for these ministries, can be reached by calling 208-263-6378.