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 Stephen Czerkas
September 19, 1951 - January 22, 2015
Born in Alhambra, California, Stephen Czerkas spent his early career sculpting dinosaurs and other creatures for the Motion Picture Industry. In 1981 his career transitioned into commissions for life-size dinosaurs from museums in North American and world-wide. From 1992 to the present, he co-founded and directed The Dinosaur Museum.
His early scientific publications focused on dinosaur skin and ornamentation, and Stegosaur plate arrangement. His later research and publications explored the relationship between dinosaurs and birds. Stephen published several books and catalogues for the general public which clearly explained paleontology. Some of the publications accompanied exhibits which he co-organized and traveled to other museums. The themes of the exhibits were 'Dinosaurs - A Global View', 'Feathered Dinosaurs', and 'Dinosaurs in the Movies'.
He is survived by his wife, Sylvia, co-director and co-founder of The Dinosaur Museum who, in loving memory will carry on his legacy. He is also survived by his sister Crystal Czerekas Merryman (SPHS '62) and his niece, Ashley Merryman. He was pre-deceased by his brother, Joseph Czerkas (SPHS '67).
The Dinosaur Museum, January 2015
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Tim Vincent Stimpfel (1969)
Steve and his family were friends with my family as we go back to the days at Holy Family. His fascination for dinasours was amazing as was his accomplishments in the field. When we were in 2nd grade, I believe, we headed up to the Blue Jay area where a bunch of classmates were celebrating Steve's birthday at a cabin. I still haven't forgotten the time when we were all outside the cabin and he proceeded to grab a lizard by the tail at the age of 7 -- even back then he was fascinated with lizards.
Steve was very meticulous and took an extraordinary amount of time to draw a fantastic poster for me when running for Commissioner of Men. I remember seeing that poster for the first time and couldn't believe how detailed it was. I am really not surprised at his accomplishments in life as they are extraordinay and again shows the diversity of the Class of 1969.