Ken Daskus remembers many things about Steven Shedrick—including that his name became a sort of saying around the university’s print center.
“There are so many little anecdotes,” Daskus said. “People would do stuff and it’d be, ‘That’s a Shedrick,’ you know, or, ‘You’re getting Shedricked.’”
Daskus had known Shedrick for seven years, three of which were spent working together in the Wachman Hall Digital Print Center.
The Temple employee of 31 years was found dead in his car early Thursday morning on Montgomery Avenue near Broad Street. Police do not know his official cause of death, but do not suspect foul play.
Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said there will be a complete report in a few weeks.
Steven Shedrick was a man who cared about his work, his church and his family, Dakus said. He led the male choir at his church and represented his coworkers in the Union at District 1199C.
Shedrick worked as the copy center operator in the Digital Print Center, where he was known for his dedication to the many organizations in his life.
“He’d get here at 6 a.m. and park right across the street so he wouldn’t have to walk far because of his knee problem, even though he wasn’t supposed to be on campus until much later,” Daskus said. “He cared. He would come in early to do stuff he knew needed to be picked up first thing, because he wanted to make sure it was in on time. I’d come to work, and he’d say, ‘You’re late.’ And I’d say, ‘What are you talking about? I’m a half-hour early.’”
A press release from Temple described Shedrick as a “well-respected delegate of District 1199C,” the union where he represented clerical employees at Temple.
Shedrick was also known for being supportive of students he interacted with.
Daskus, the network document production coordinator at the Digital Print Center, said Shedrick “always took the student’s side” when it came to funding.
“He was a big believer in not passing the cost onto students,” Daskus said.
Shedrick’s sister, Barbara Shedrick, works as an administrative assistant in Human Resources in Mitten Hall. Daskus said family was incredibly important to Shedrick, and he would go to a “huge” family reunion in the South every year.
“You know, he was starting to think about retirement,” Daskus said. “If you asked him to do something, he’d do his best to get it done.”
Shedrick’s family could not be reached for comment.
Julie Christie can be reached at julie.christie@temple.edu or on Twitter @ChristieJules.
I worked side by side with Steve at the university for almost 10 years. He was kind and serious, he could be grumpy or animated on any given day, he was genuine and funny. Steve was a man of action, a teacher, and cared about the Temple community which he was a big part of. He had the greatest laugh, the biggest smile and the most serious frown of anyone on campus. Steve recurited me to become a 1199c delegate, a passion of his for the enitire time I knew him. He wanted better working conditions and respect for his co-workers and was willing to go the extra mile which he did for the 19 years I knew him. Tirelessly working to resolve issues, and helping with contract negotiations, and making sure everyone who needed one had a union rules and regs booklet. Oh and how we would argue, over everything and anything, even when we agreed ! We played basketball together and won a Temple University B-leagure intermural championship together, going 9-0. He though he was a point guard, turned out to be a real good tweener (guard/forward) and floor general. We were neighbors when Temple offered a small amount of faculty/staff on campus housing on the Park Mall in the late 80’s. I attended many a caberet, union sponsered event, and Friday night beer and wings session all around the community and city where Steve was the life of the party. My friend , his impact on the Temple community, and to me,was greater than I can describe here. His loss is like losing a part of yourself, when you wake daily knowing you no longer have that part anymore. He will be deeply missed by me and many others.