In this world we go around once, sometimes we live for years close to a century, other times our life is cut short in our 50s, 60s or even earlier. When a person passes through this life and makes it a better world, they are remembered forever and their dedication and work to complete the task does not go unnoticed.

This is where Dr. Steve Bahrke, a Wautoma High School graduate, has made a difference. He was a husband, father, and brother, grandfather and had a plethora of friends, in the medical field and out. Steve was the youngest of four children growing up in Wautoma. He was the fourth child of Ervin Bahrke and Dorothy Roeske Bahrke. Ervin passed away at the age of 61 in 1975. His brother Jim was his soul mate and they spent many hours together on adventurous escapades and fun-loving practical jokes. His sisters, Ann and Barb, enjoyed watching their brothers raise some cane and the brothers were always there for their sisters.

While in high school at Wautoma Steve found a love for science. He attended he University of Wisconsin Oshkosh with a major in chemistry and a minor in mathematics. During a summer internship at his childhood Doctors family practice, Dr. Darby, he found a passion for medicine. He graduated from UW-Oshkosh and did research for the University of Wisconsin in genetics lab and McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research while he prepared for medical school. He graduated from UW-Madison medical school in 1979. He was assigned to a public health hospital on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona for five months.

Steve matched for his medical residency in family medicine with the Fox Valley Family Medicine Residency Program in Appleton. During his residency, he met Dr. Pete Sanderson and they agreed to start a practice together in Plover. Dr. Bahrke went on to build a new larger, state of the art clinic in Plover. Many came to study the design and replicate it in other clinics around the country. When they enlarged the clinic they welcomed Dr. Mark Felon as the third partner.

Being a doctor, one would think all is a slam-dunk and you care for your patients and Steve did that and went beyond to be a doctor that went out of his way to help others. Steve was having some health issues himself and found out that he had a genetic disease, Cadasil, and after testing the family two of his siblings, Ann and Jim, also had the disease. This sent Steve on a path that would put in him medical history as he began research on the disease and some suggested treatment that would slow the progression down. Many medical institutions have documented the research. Steve dedicated his life to the research and lost his life fighting it, but the work he did to help others is life changing.

Steve married Kathy Hartnet in 1971 and they had three children, Erin (Jeremy), Scott, and Michael (adopted at the age of 4 from Thailand). Later he married his loving wife, Debra Hopp, in Hawaii. She brought an additional two children into the family. When the affects of Cadasil made practicing medicine too difficult, Steve and Debb retired to Hernando, FL for the winter where he continued with golf, fishing, and movies. He also enjoyed refinishing antique furniture and doing lawn care. They spent their summers in Conover, WI, where they enjoyed boating, fishing, and watching eagles.

A Memorial Service for Dr. Steve Bahrke will be held on Saturday, July 25th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Pfiffner Building, 401 Franklin St., Stevens Point. Dr. Bahrke may have left this earth, but the research he did and documented on Cadasil will remain a legacy. The love he had for family and friends and for his dear mother, Dorothy Bahrke Pearsall, a resident at Heartland House, Wautoma, his wife, his children, his brother and sisters, will live forever in the hearts of those that remain on earth to cherish his memory.

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Wautoma native Dr. Steve Bahrke to be remembered for his love of family and his contribution to the genetic disease, Cadasil, that claimed his life on...