Steven "Steve" Eugene Knotts, 73, of Leesburg, Florida, died peacefully on September 23, 2026, at Cornerstone Hospice in Tavares, with his wife and children by his side. He faced cancer, and the years of pain before doctors found it, the way he handled most things: with dry humor, few complaints, and a firm conviction that everyone else was worrying too much.

Steve was born in 1953 in Cumberland, Maryland, and grew up in Hartford, Connecticut. As the oldest, he looked out for his brothers and sisters from the start, and to them he was always as much a father as a brother. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1972 to 1976 as an artilleryman, rising to the rank of sergeant. He went on to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, working at several hospitals over a long career before retiring from Windham Hospital in Willimantic, Connecticut. He was known for his bedside manner: a calm, steady presence who put nervous patients at ease on some of the hardest days of their lives.

Athletic all his life, he loved golf, ping pong and dancing. He loved Indian food, Florida weather and lake vacations in Maine, and he never met a pun he didn't like, especially his own. Above all he loved his family, and no one more than his wife.

Steve was a man of integrity in every part of his life. He did what he said he would do, and most of what he did, he did out of love. He was a wonderful father who showed up for his children whenever they needed him, and never more than in the hard times. At the hospital and at home, he was a born MacGyver who could fix almost anything with whatever was on hand, at least temporarily. Get him on the right topic, and he could talk for an hour.

As a patient, he gave his nurses and doctors the same kindness he had always given his own patients. When he decided he'd had enough treatment, he said so plainly and spent his final days on his own terms, still more concerned with how his family was holding up than with himself.

He is survived by his wife of 21 years, who cared for him through every step of his illness; his five children; four grandchildren; his mother and her husband; his two brothers and three sisters; and many nieces, nephews and friends who will miss him dearly. He was predeceased by his beloved dog Jack, who lived a long and happy life. Steve and his wife considered Jack a son and liked to joke that he was the only one of their children who actually listened.

The family is deeply grateful to the doctors, nurses and staff at Orlando Health and Cornerstone Hospice for the skill and compassion they showed him.

A private family service will be held in Connecticut. Celebrations of life will follow in Florida later this fall and in Connecticut in the months ahead, and details will be shared with family and friends. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Cornerstone Hospice or to the Cancer Research Institute (cancerresearch.org).

He would have said this obituary was way too long.