Steve Philipsheck

Steve Philipsheck left us very unexpectedly on October 7th and his spirit will forever be with the trees. Steve spent the early years in Miles City, Montana and then moved to Marin County and settled in West Marin. The rest of his childhood was spent in Pt. Reyes and Inverness, graduating from Tomales High School in 1967. His 40-year career in tree work began with his friend/mentor/teacher Tom Kent of Inverness. Steve started to work for the family owned Sohner Tree Service in San Anselmo as a climber in 1973. Steve built many wonderful relationships while at Sohner and after many years of climbing became a mentor/teacher/coach to many of the young guys that came and went and are still friends to this day. Many have stories to tell about how Steve helped them in some of their most trying times in big Eucalyptus trees and gave them all the encouragement to keep going and that they could do it. Steve was a perfectionist when it came to working in the trees and followed the Arborist’s creed of Principles and Practice. He was true to his trade in his entire career. He held to the old school way about teaching the younger guys the correct way to approach climbing/pruning and all the skills it takes to be a good tree trimmer. Steve decided to work independently and had many long-term clients in Marin and Sonoma Counties where he used his skills as a pruner, fruit trees were his specialty. Steve is survived by Sarah his wife of 49 years; daughters Katie Sellmann (husband Matt), Alissa Price, (husband Matt); 4 grandchildren: Kalea, 17, Ellie, 11, Forrest, 10, and Freya 8; a brother Mike Philipsheck of Gold Beach, Oregon, and many cousins. In lieu of flowers, Steve would appreciate trees planted in his memory anywhere and everywhere.