The Passing of Stephen Porter, Our Grand PooPah. Imaginarium Theater

 

Stephen Markham Porter was surrounded by loved ones when he unexpectedly passed away on Wednesday, September 8th, 2021 due to complications from diabetes (as Stephen would say the diet bees).

Stephen was born in Provo, Utah on December 15th, 1981 to Perry Lynne Porter and Renee Call Bair. He lived a life full of generosity as he shared his humor and kindness with so many around him. His talents and charisma helped him succeed as a graduate from Orem High School, serve as a missionary in Brazil, become an Eagle Scout, destroy trust with friends in board games, and work through the ranks to become a manager of software development at Entrata.

Stephen took great pride in his career at Entrata and had an influence in shaping company values. Those he worked with appreciated that he reached out with personal attention and provided laughter through his quick wit while also being dependable. He was a leader who cared deeply for the success and happiness of his team. He worked at Entrata for nearly 10 years, with only a short absence when he and his wife Rikki Carter had moved to Canada. They quickly returned to Utah as that was where he was meant to be. Stephen and Rikki divorced but remained friends as their lives headed in different directions.

Stephen joined Cascade Elementary school’s Young Astronaut Program and had his first experience with the Christa McAuliffe Space Center. This began a life-long passion for storytelling, acting, and software design. He volunteered for years on weekends and through the summers until he impressed his way into an indispensable position as a staff member. Stephen is well known for having developed endearing characters whose interactions created joyful memories for thousands of children over the years of his involvement.

Stephen loved the outdoors, eating delicious food, listening to operas, playing with his dogs, spending quality time with his nephews and nieces, visiting foreign places, and playing video games and board games with friends and family. His dietary staples included Worcestershire sauce, Arby’s sauce, and hot sauce (which he loved to share with others). Stephen also loved movies and television. He could watch a movie once and later be able to quote the best lines from any movie with the best comedic timing. Many of us have benefitted from him sharing music, games, television, and movie recommendations.

Stephen will be missed everyday by his Mother, Renee Bair; his Father, Perry Porter; his sister, Tiscia Westerman (Jeffery); his brother, James Porter (Ann); his sister, Mary Olsen (Keith); his two nieces and four nephews, his sweetheart Ehrin Legler, his dog Wu, his loving aunts, uncles, cousins and many, many great friends he made all over the world.

Stephen is preceded in death by his sister Christy Lynne Porter, grandparents Nyda and Don Porter, and Mary Lou and Rodney Call, as well as his beloved dog Cicero.

Stephen recently shared on social media:

“Pais E Filhos - Legiao Urbana (is) One of my favorite Portuguese songs of all time, and actually was the very first song I learned to play on the guitar. Beautiful throughout the whole song, but the part that gets me is the chorus."

Pais E Filhos - Legiao Urbana

É preciso amar as pessoas

Como se não houvesse amanhã

Por que se você parar pra pensar

Na verdade não há

We need to love people

as if there is no tomorrow

because if you stop to think

in truth there is not

“Thank you to every one of you in my life who I love and I know loves me too.” - Stephen Porter

Memorial Services for Stephen Porter

Saturday, September 18th

9:00 am

Nelson Family Mortuary

4780 N University Ave, Provo, UT

A live streaming service can be found at

www.nelsonmortuary.com

And a Thought From Me

Stephen was a major contributor to this Blog's forerunner social media site call the Space EdVentures Yahoo Group. His posts were always witty, sarcastic, and at times just rude. It was his style. He said things about the staff and volunteers I wished I could say but didn't dare. So, in my role as Space Center Director, I'd find myself editing his posts here and there to keep calm in the ranks and to ensure people would speak to Stephen when he came to work as a member of the staff.

My memories of Stephen are many. Almost all good - and that alone is a compliment! He was a great character actor and knew how to read a room, or Starship Bridge. He acted for a dual audience - the campers and the staff and volunteers. We never knew what that evening's performance would bring.

For those many happy times, I'm grateful I had the honor and privilege of working with Stephen.

The following is an example of one of Stephen's YahooGroup posts and my comments at the time added to the post for political correctness sake....

AUGUST 21, 2000

MODERATOR'S NOTE:
ONCE AGAIN THE BLACE MARK OF THE MODERATOR MUST STRIKE CERTAIN WORDS FROM MR. PORTER'S SARCASTIC ESSAY. I REPLACED STEPHEN'S WORDS WITH "CENSORED" SO YOU'LL KNOW WHERE HIS POST WAS EDITED.
AND NOW STEPHEN'S REMARKS.......EDITED REMARKS WITH A FEW CLOSING REMARKS OF MINE.

Hi, I am Stephen Porter.
Who are you?
oh, really? I have never heard of you.
Oh well.
Maybe next time kid!

Hey, remove "CENSORED" from the volunteers thingy... is he still breathing the petulant gasses as the rest of we mortals? I have not seen hide nor hair of the little guy since the high school  mission... off with his head!

Hey, I added another MP3 to the file section.

Check it out!

Hey, does anybody out there have an extra copy of adobe photoshop. If you do... I want it for free.

Yeah for Wayne, he is one of few people whose posts last more than 3  seconds on my screen. HEY YAA!

Boo to "CENSORED" ... She's the one who should be censored. I mean, why do she waste my bandwidth with such pointless  dribble ... Wow, it is cool  that you know HTML... that is really cool... but don't flaunt it
every second of the day, then it becomes annoying and Cliche.

Boo to Judge Dredd, have you ever seen that movie?

Yeah to Cool volunteers, you know... the ones that only speak when it  is appropriate.

Boo to the Galileo, cause it has wheels.

Yeah to the Voyager, it has a color projector.

Boo to the Magellan, for obvious reasons.

Yeah to the Odyssey, wait, on second thought... Boo.

Huzzah to the Falcon, to the only simulator that you board via extra vehicular activity.

Boo to board games, they smell of old spice.

Boo!! yeah! thats right... you like that? huh? thats what I thought.

Stephen Porter - Boo, hiss, queen of filth.

Le traducteur d'AltaVista de visite pour toute votre traduction a 
besoin... sur l'Internet. 

     AS THE SPACE CENTER DIRECTOR AND MODERATOR OF THIS YAHOOGROUP, I MUST ASSUME STEPHEN HAD A BAD DAY WHEN HE WROTE THE POST ABOVE. PERHAPS THERE WAS NO PRIZE IN HIS BOX OF CRAKER JACKS THAT MORNING. ONE CAN ONLY WONDER. 

     LET US NOT GROW IN ANGER TOWARD POOR STEPHEN SITTING ON THAT FRAYED LAWN CHAIR IN HIS BACK YARD LOOKING DEEPLY INTO THE EMPTY CRAKER JACK BOX AND WONDERING WHAT FATE HAD DONE WITH HIS PRIZE. YES, HIS PRIZE - THE PRIZE HE WAITED FOR AS HE SAVORED EACH CARMEL KERNAL AND SAVORY PEANUT. 

     WITH HIS POST WRITTEN AND HIS CRAKER JACKS GONE, WHAT WAS THERE TO FILL THE REST OF STEHEN'S EVENING............? I ENVISION HIM STANDING AND TOSSING THE BOX - THE CAUSE OF HIS DISAPPOINTMENT, INTO THE TRASH. I SEE HIM MOVING THROUGH THE HOUSE INTO HIS BEDROOM. HE SITS ON HIS BED AND OPENS HIS DRESSER. HE REACHES INSIDE AND PULLS OUT HIS SOCKS. AT LEAST FATE COULDN'T TAKE THIS SIMPLE PLEASURE AWAY FROM HIM. THE THRILL OF SORTING SOCKS BEFORE BED. 

     "WHERE'S THE MATCH FOR THIS ONE?" I HEAR HIM MUMBLE AS HE SEARCHES THE PILE.
     "THERE YOU ARE YOU LITTLE SNEAK! THOUGHT YOU'D GET AWAY FROM ME DIDN'T YOU?" HE ASKS AS HE TOSSES THE CRAFTY SOCK INTO THE AIR, THEN HOLDS IT CLOSE AND LOOKS DEEPLY AT THE COLOR, THE KNIT - THEN UP TO THE NOSE ..................A DEEP BREATH...............EVEN BLINDFOLDED HE CAN TELL THEM APART. 

     HAVING BEEN SORTED, INTO THE DRAWER THE SOCKS GO. HE SWITCHES OFF THE LIGHTS AND SLIPS INTO BED. WHILE OTHERS DREAM OF GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS AND ROMANCE, HIS GRINS WITH THOUGHTS OF FRUIT OF THE LOOM DOUBLE KNITS OVER THE CALF. 

GOOD NIGHT STEPHEN..........
GOOD NIGHT ALL.........

MR. WILLIAMSON

Good Bye Stephen, our Grand PooPah. Heaven is a happier place now that you've returned home.

IMAGINARIUM THEATER

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More Photos from the Old Central Elementary School and Space Center (A Continuation from Last Week's Post). This Week's Imaginarium Theater

Hello Troops,

     Last week's post started our photograph tour of the old Central School we all fondly remember.  This week's post continues where that post left off - in the Cafeteria and Kitchen area.  Once again I want to thank Central's Custodian, Brandon Pace, for the photos he took of the school all ready to open for its last school year, the 2019-2020 school year.  

     Each of the photos you see have Space Center memories for our Space Center staff and volunteers.  In addition to my Space Center memories, I have my memories of these hallways and rooms from my time teaching 6th grade full time from 1983 - 1990 before I opened the Space Center. 

     The Lunchroom.  My biggest Space Center memories of this room are:  This is where we set up the USS Falcon weekend simulator in the two Starlab Domes.  This was also where we had many a movie night after returning from swimming on our 3 day overnight camps.  And let's not forget the many many landing parties this area gave us.  Great times for sure.

     Looking from the entrance of the Lunchroom toward the Galileo.  Needless to say, this part of the Lunchroom was our domain.  The floor had permanent ruts from the Galileos wheels.  We sure made our mark on the old school.

     This was the walk in refrigerator.  I was in and out of this fridge all summer long for our summer camp meals and every Friday and Saturday for our overnight camp food.  This was also my place to cool down when the school's air conditioner would go out.  A few minutes in the "cooler" and I was good to go for another hour.

     Ah, the kitchen itself.  This is where Bill Schuler and Aleta Clegg spent many a summer cooking up our summer camp meals. Our staff used this area for landing parties way back in the early 1990's until the lunchroom staff put a stop to it.  Over time our landing party locations were whittled back to certain areas of the school.  

     The Faculty Room across from the Lunchroom.  The Space Center used this room on weeknight and weekends and summers for mission briefings and landing party areas.  One memory that comes to mind was the time Bracken Funk used this room during the summer as a major crime scene for his crews to do forensics.  Great Times!  

     The Workroom.  Late on a Friday night you'd find me in here making photocopies of  checks and cash.  It was required by the district accountants for all bank deposits.  I'd be making photo copies with the door closed so my work didn't disrupt the endless hallway landing parties of 5 busy simulators.

     The school's front office and foyar are just up and to the left in this photo.  The library and Briefing Room were on the right, opposite the school's front doors.

 

     The school's entrance and foyer.  How many times did you sit on that bench and wait for your ride to pick you up from your Space Center duties?  For many an overnight camp this is where I'd gather the overnight camp campers at 11:30 P.M., give them their final bathroom break, read them the overnight camp rules, and then disperse them to their sleeping areas.  The staff stood behind me to accept the campers and show them to their sleeping quarters.  

     The entrance to the school and Space Center.  Think of the hundred thousands of people both young and old who came through those doors for field trips and camps during the Space Center's time in the old building.  Amazing, isn't it? 

     Central School started in 1893 in its first building which sat on this same property.  This display case in the school's foyer held many mementos from the school's long past.

     Opposite the display case was the school's office.  The sick room was at the back of the office.  Many an ill camper laid on that sick bed waiting for a parent pick up on the long summer overnight camps.  Many a time I'd be in that room looking for bandaids to heal the scraps and cuts from crawling around in the ships and hallways. 

     That's it for this post.  Watch for more next week along with photos from the Space Center's last Honor's Night held on Thursday night.  

Mr. W. 

Imaginarium Theater

This Week's Best Videos From Around the World Edited for a Gentler Audience

A Few of the Last Pictures of the Old Central School. Our Landing Party Territory. Lots of Memories in those Hallways. Imaginarium Theater.

 Hello Troops,

Now that the Space Center is operating at full steam in the new Central School, I thought now would be a good time to publish a series of photographs of the old Central School taken by Central's head custodian, Brandon Pace.  These photos were to be the the last detailed photos of the old building in all its glory.

I'm posting them here because most of the old Central School was truly a part of the Space Center.  Nearly every square inch of that building, including the roof, was used over the many years as ship sets and landing party destinations.  As you look at these parting photographs of the old school, think back on all the time you spent in those halls, rooms, and crawl spaces.  Do you have a fond memory sparked by looking at one of these photos?  Please share that memory with me.  SpaceCampUtah@gmail.com

A Look at our Old Central School in All Her Glory (The first in a series of posts).

The kindergarten hallway from the exit doors.  A great hallway for distant landing parties.

Admiral Schuler use to bring overnight camp landing parties down this hallway.  From here they would crawl on their bellies through the hallway back toward the Voyager.

The doorway to the boiler room.  This was the entrance to the school's spook allie for the 

Halloween Carnival.  In the Space Center's early days (1990's) we also took students down to the boiler room for landing parties. We never actually went into the boiler room, just down the spooky crawl spaces.

The staircase down to the boiler room.  Imagine a landing party late on a Friday night heading down these stairs for a rendezvous with destiny.

At the bottom of the stairway, our landing parties would make a left through this door and into the crawl space.

This was the crawl space. Awesome isn't it?  

One of the phantom staircases leading to nowhere from the boiler room.  These staircases

were part of the second Central School

Ah, the Fallout Shelter sign.

The hallway from the boys bathroom at the top of the ramp looking toward the school's 

parking lot.  How many times did you walk this hallway heading home from a mission?

This was another landing party stairway. This was the stairway leading to basement 

from the cafeteria's kitchen.  Bottom left was where the kitchen stored food.  We also used

it as Space Center storage.  To the right is the doorway that led to the Space Center's wood and metal shop.

To the right, the storage area directly under the kitchen

The old dumbwaiter leading up to the kitchen.

The crawlspace  under the kindergarten hallway.  This was also a part of the 

school's spook allie.  It was used extensively for landing parties back in the day.

"Watch out for the beam," we'd tell the campers.  Lots of bumped heads back then.

The Space Center's old wood and metal shop in the basement. This is where many of the set decorations were built back in the day.

The Space Center's old wood and metal shop in the basement. This is where many of the set decorations were built back in the day.

The Space Center's old wood and metal shop in the basement. This is where many of the set decorations were built back in the day.  If you look closely at the top of the trashcan you can see one of the fake hatches we built for the ships.

And the last picture for this post, the hallway leading to the simulators from the kindergarten hall.

Imaginarium Theater

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