Steve Tallaksen

A memorial service will be held outside on Saturday, April 24, at 2 p.m. at Union Hill Church of Christ, 865 N. Nicholas Road, Nixa. Due to the current COVID-19 conditions, masks and social distancing will be required by those attending. Arrangement are under the direction of Adams Funeral Home, Nixa.

Steve was the third child born to Richard "Dick" and Jacqueline "Jackie" (Chubin) Tallaksen in Chicago, Illinois on Jan. 19, 1954. He died four days short of his 67th birthday.

Steve attended Blaine Elementary and graduated from Lakeview High School in Chicago in 1971.

He has driven almost every truck imaginable, including dump trucks, tractor trailers and box trucks. He was driving a semi before his 16th birthday. He naturally fell into being truck mechanic by working on his and own equipment and helping others with theirs.

He married Gayle Fultz in February 1981 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He taught Gayle how to drive a tractor-trailer and they had a 9-month honeymoon, traveling around the "lower 48."

They moved to Nixa in 1990. He worked as a heavy-duty truck mechanic for various companies. In 2010, he established Ultimate Mobile Heavy-Duty Truck Repair.

He served the Nixa community by serving on the Nixa City Council from 1996-2011 and was on the Nixa Planning and Zoning Commission from 2013-2016. He was a member of numerous civic organizations: the Nixa Optimist Club, Nixa and Christian County Lions Clubs, the Sucker Day Committee and a Master Mason of Billings Lodge No. 379. He has served on the Nixa Skateboard Park Committee, Nixa Senior Citizens Board, and the Post Office Advisory Board. Steve also served on the Christian County Senior Tax Board and was on Sparta Chamber of Commerce Board. His favorite role was as Nixa's Santa Claus.

He is survived by his wife, Gayle, his children, and their families: Jennifer Gurley, her husband, Cole and their daughter, Mira of Kansas City, Missouri; Sarah Anderson, and her children Lillyanah and Tiernan of Nixa,.

He is also survived by his sister, Caren Neushwander, and her husband Dale of Minooka, Illinois; and his brother Michael and his wife Brenda of Morris, Illinois; many nieces, nephews, and friends; and his Aunt Dorothy Feistel, Calabasas, California.

He is preceded in death by his son Corey and his parents.

Steve was a caring, sincere, kind, tender hearted, and thoughtful man who will be missed by many.

In lieu of flowers, family requests donations be sent to Give Kids the World,

https://give.gktw.org/give/265729/#!/donation/checkout

or Make A Wish Foundation,

https://secure2.wish.org/site/SPageServerpagename=donate_today&chid=100-000.

A memorial fund for the family has been established at Simmons Bank or can be accessed via PayPal at https://paypal.me/tallaksenmemorial?locale.x=en_US.