Steven Arthur Berneking was born on April 16, 1980, the son of Ronald and Jolee Berneking of Farwell. Steve attended grade school in Garfield and Ashby, and attended Jefferson High School in Alexandria, earning his GED in 2000. He was baptized and confirmed at Oscar Lake Lutheran Church near Farwell. Steve was passionate about cooking and worked as a chef at Perkins in high school. He then worked as a fork lift operator for Menards in Belgrade. It was while driving to work one early morning to Belgrade that he was involved in an automobile accident, as a result of this accident he developed a traumatic brain injury.
As a child, he and his siblings enjoyed playing outside at the farm, swimming, building forts, tents and helping with the farm chores. They would feed the cows, at a speed that varied depending on what other fun things they wanted to do. Prior to his accident, Steve enjoyed hunting, downhill skiing, fishing and racing. He was a member of 4H and involved in his church. Steve was a loyal friend whom always had on a million dollar smile. This smile is something that stayed with him after his accident. He was a friendly person whom was always excited to see his family and friends. He had a knack with numbers, at times he used this knack in card games that he would play by himself or with his grandparents and other family members. He was a fan of hotdogs and loved to go out to eat at Pizza Ranch. Steve was a fun loving and caring friend, whom would always greet you with his smile, a good firm handshake and two thumbs up.
Steve died and joined the angels in heaven on Friday, September 4, 2015 at the Fleetwood home, run by Prairie Community Services. He is preceded in death by his great-grandparents. He is survived by his parents, Ronald and Jolee Berneking; grandparents, Marlin and Arletta Berneking and David and Eleanor Fahlin; siblings, Jennifer (Mike) Bengtson, Michael (Trisha) Berneking, Christopher (Kirstin) Berneking, Erik Zinke and Elizabeth Zinke; nieces and nephews, Lily Vick, Zachary Vick, Keryn Bengtson, Carter Berneking, Addison Berneking and Ayla Berneking; Aunt, Katrina (J.J.) Thomsen and Uncle, Randy (Cheri Grothe) Fahlin.