He was a 1965 graduate of Lincoln High School. While at Lincoln he played basketball and golf all four years and was a letterman. Honors there included the Kiwanis Mental Attitude Award in basketball, the Kiwanis Scholarship Achievement Award, and the Clarence B. Tolbert Award. He was always on the honor roll, went to Hoosier Boy's State, and was involved in Hi-Y.

He attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire from 1965 until graduating (cum laude) in 1969. While at Dartmouth he played basketball and golf for one year, and was a member of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity. From 1969 - 1970 he attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, and then Indiana University School of Medicine from 1970-1974 graduating with an M.D. and elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Society.

As a physician, Steve did his residency in Pediatrics at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis from 1974-1976 and then a fellowship in Critical Care Medicine at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. After that he became the Associate Medical Director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Johns Hopkins until 1980 when he returned to Methodist as founder and director of the Pediatric Intensive Care until 1993 when he retired for health reasons.

In all of this positions, Steve taught medical students and trained residents and other physicians. He was on the clinical faculty of the Indiana University School of Medicine, and spoke around the state to physician groups and at conferences regarding pediatric medicine. He was Board Certified in both his specialties, and was a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and Society of Critical Care Medicine. He was author or co-author of many publications, mostly in critical care and pediatric journals.