Steve R. Paintin

Steven (“Steve”) Randall Paintin, 69, of Bellingham, passed away on October 18, 2023 at Whatcom Hospice House, just hours shy of his 70th birthday.  He was born October 19, 1953 in Santa Monica, California to Thomas Edwin and Lois (Dahlen) Paintin.  Steve was always kind and gentle, a self-described hippie and a dreamer, a California boy through and through.  Steve was a championship swimmer in his youth, winning medals in various local swim meets and received the Scholar-Athlete Award from Reseda High School in Reseda, California in 1969.  He was known to be a skilled artisan in wood and metal, with work sometimes featured in galleries and shows in towns north of his birthplace, in the villages of Pacific Grove and Monterey, CA.  In his young adulthood, he travelled all over the coast of California, living alternately in the wild areas and cabins of friends he made along the way.  Before landing in Big Sur, California, where he lived more than a dozen years, Steve hitch-hiked and roamed all over California form Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz and lived a life of adventure in a time much different from this one.   

In 1989, Steve married Barbara Bliss, whom he’d met at Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn, where they both worked.  They moved to Bellingham, Washington later that year, shortly before the birth of their daughter.  Steve built a house in Everson, WA for his young family.  Steve was a “local legend” in Bellingham and many saw him walking throughout town with his long red hair flowing in the wind, alone or with his daughter, or drinking black coffee outside a coffee shop.  He made several trips to Hawaii later in life and felt Maui was his true home.  May he finally be at peace, flying free among the stars. 

His greatest pride and joy in life was his daughter, Aurora Lee and grandchildren, Cameron Miles, Isabella Lillian, and Tristan Thomas.  He is survived by his daughter, Aurora (Keith); grandchildren, Cameron, Isabella, and Tristan; sister, Jennifer (Stephen); niece Rachel (Josh), and nephew Tyler.   

Memorials may be made to the Lighthouse Mission Ministries, with which Steve was involved for many years.