Birth date: Feb 2, 1965 Death date: Nov 3, 2015
Stephen Eric Ratka was born on February 2, 1965, in Houston to Frank and Julia Ratka. Stephen passed away unexpectedly on November 3, 2015. He was hard working, well mannered and humble. He was a jokster, famous for his ever-prese Read Obituary
I will miss you my friend, thank you for all those golf lessons. I always tried my best to stay with you in golf and thanks to you I broke 82. You will be missed
You always had a smile and always made me smile with your words. I am blessed to have know you as a co-worker that I called a friend. I will always miss you my friend till we meet again!
Sandy Sorenson
Steve, my friend, teacher, fellow golfer and bike rider. You will be missed greatly. To have had you as a friend has been a great honor. Thank you for sharing your time with me through thick and thin you never waivered and it was sincerely appreciated. God speed! Thomas Wourms
Steve, you will be missed by many! I will always remember your smile,
with a fun comment from you when I walked up.
For every smile you gave away, I know you got one back!!
You will be remembered, because friends are.
Linda Duncan
When I was little, I remember being so excited going to Grandma's house. Not only to see Grandma, play with the bazillion toys there, or eat her coma inducing brownies - I was excited 'cause I got to play with Uncle Steve.
Now, later on, I realize that when I was with Uncle Steve - I was "playing", but back then...Uncle Steve was my arch nemesis. After we hugged him and told Grandma and him what was going on - he would start teasing us, which led to me trash talking. Uncle Steve loved to tease everyone. I remember him picking up those toys at Grandma's and holding it high over his head, that always led to me jumping and climbing on him and later on we would be sprawled on the floor or the green striped couch. Him, laughing and talking with Grandma and Mom, and me, happy and flustered. Being "flustered" was one of my excuses for when I stuffed my favorite toy at Grandma's down my shirt when we were leaving :) , but alas, Mom always caught me.
I was really looking forward to more of those times, Uncle Steve, but I will forever have memories of you and Grandma. Awesome, amazing memories, like the time you two came over for Thanksgiving. Grandma with her award winning ham and her yams with marshmallows. All it took was showing you our nerf gun for you to abandon the adult conversation and start a war zone with it. I'm glad I got to see you one last time at the Hospital. I was dealing with a lot of emotions and the first thing you do when you come to me is give me a fist bump. Thank you for that. No matter what, you managed to make people laugh. You and Grandma gave me a lot of joy when I visited you guys. The thought of you two bring a smile to my face. Thank you for everything.
I'm going to miss you,
Isabel
Stephen, I wish there was more time. You were my uncle, but I never called you "Uncle" because, to me you were a brother. I went away to Singapore knowing that, when I returned, you would be there to tease my girls, show you care with a punch in the arm and a laugh. I am grateful for the week before you passed. The early morning talk with you and Debbie, the long hug when grandma passed. You will be missed Steve. But I will always have you in my heart and in my memories. To me you will always be the big brother that I looked up to and loved. There will always be the Sunday morning Kung Fu movies, hearing you play your guitar from the other room, the special trip you took to visit Hector and me in California. Know that Hector and I will keep an eye on Erik and keep in touch with Debbie. I love you Stephen. You and grandma were my family.
Love Always,
Tina
You will be forever in my heart! I will miss you deeply. Rest in peace my friend,
Vikki Kemp
