Stephen Christopher McClure, 33, of Oswego, passed away Monday, February 4, 2019 at his home.
He was born October 1, 1985 in West Monroe, Louisiana. As a young boy, he attended elementary school in Ada, Oklahoma and later graduated from North East High School in Arma, Kansas.
He and Nicole Farris were married August 27, 2006 in Oswego. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and was stationed at Camp Pendleton, California. He served in the Marine Corps Infantry 0311 and was assigned to the 2/4 Fox Company and was deployed under Operation Iraqi Freedom. Upon his honorable discharge from the Marine Corps, he moved to Oswego in 2008. He later enlisted in the Air Force Reserve where he served in the 931st Civil Engineering Division and became certified in HVAC. Stephen was deployed to Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom. He honorably discharged from the Air Force Reserves in July of 2018.
Stephen was currently employed by TAMKO in Joplin, Missouri where he had worked since 2016. He was a member of the Oswego Assembly of God Church. He enjoyed woodworking, baseball, cooking, and had recently become interested in weightlifting. He especially loved spending time with his children.
Shared by his mother, Renni:
Stephen’s hobbies included woodworking, baseball, cooking, and weight lifting. His teams were the Kansas City Chiefs and the KC Royals. He was extremely intelligent. He loved to dance and could do it well. He was such a comedian and there was never a dull moment around him. He was loved by many and he was a wonderful Daddy! He could do anything! He was just a natural at everything. There is so much more to share.
Places he called home: Kansas and Oklahoma
Final Rest: Oswego, KS
Please read these important words Stephen wrote:
“Just feel the need to express how important family and friends are in life. I’ve spent the last decade hiding emotions, pushing everyone far away, and building up walls so that they cannot affect my heart or mind. This essentially made me a numb, emotionless, unworthy person. PTSD is not something that can be ignored or put aside to eventually go away. I thought I could stay busy enough being a husband, a father, in the military, working a regular job, a coach, delving into hobbies, helping anyone out that asks etc. The result of overextending myself and not getting the true help I needed is catastrophic. I feel so alone and lost…so hurt. I did this to myself unintentionally. I’ve been trying to get help from the military for years and am ignored. I’ve spoken to the chain of command, medical, mental health clinic and told them I need help. I have been literally shoved aside and completely ignored. We constantly take suicide prevention classes and have “PTSD” pamphlets in every corner and it’s all a joke. I guess that is what I deserve after all. I’ve hidden for so long that I am invisible and don’t matter.
Seek friendship and communicate often. Allow yourself to feel emotions because they allow you to relieve anxiety, laugh, love, and be in the moment. If you do as I did, you will internalize emotions which turn the voice in your head into an enemy. I fight with myself and somehow make everything my fault. I am stuck in a mode of self-hatred and the voice in my head catches me smile and says “don’t smile, you don’t deserve to be happy”. It reminds continuously that I am worthless and undeserving of even the simplest things.
I know that the token phrase is “it’s never too late to get help”………WRONG! Please take it from me and seek help before it’s too late. No matter the severity, get help. The smallest problem can be tucked away and blinded by day to day life all the while it is a cancer that slowly metastasizes until it is spread throughout everything.”
#22toomany#OurHeroes are #NeverForgotten
