Volume 58, Number 36    June 27, 2011         

Stephen De Staebler
Professor Emeritus of Art Stephen De Staebler, an internationally acclaimed sculptor, died May 13 at his Berkeley home. He was 78.

De Staebler is known for his fractured, fragmented figurative sculptures in fired clay colored with powdered oxides and for cast bronze sculptures colored with patinas and pigments. In January 2012, the De Young Museum will debut a retrospective exhibition, "Matter and Spirit: Stephen De Staebler."

The St. Louis native first taught at SF State from 1961 to 1962 and at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1967. He joined SF State as a tenure-track faculty member in 1967 and retired in 1995.

De Staebler earned his A.B. from Princeton University in 1954. After graduation, he joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany between 1954 and 1956. He earned his General Secondary Teaching Credential and an M.A. in Art from University of California, Berkeley.

De Staebler is survived by his wife of 14 years, Danae Lynn Mattes, their daughter Arianne Seraphine and his sons Jordan Lucas and David Conrad De Staebler.

A memorial service will be held in late July at the Newman Hall, Holy Spirit Parish, Berkeley. The family requests that donations in his memory be made to Doctors Without Borders or Amnesty International.

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Last modified June 23, 2011 by University Communications.