Steven Arthur O’Leary, Architect, past AIA member, former husband of Michele Grace Hottel, AIA, father to Kelley, John and Griffin O’Leary, was at home with his family when he passed away peacefully on June 30, 2023.
Steve graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in 1989, became licensed in 1993 and worked at many architecture firms in Southern California including Appleton & Associates (Appleton, Mechur & Associates), Lomax Rock Architects, Levin & Associates, HMC, MW Steele Architects and NAV/FAC SW.
Steve was the designer of many AIA Design Award-winning projects including the Claremont Colleges Scripps Commons, the UCSD Faculty Club Addition, and San Pasqual Union Elementary School.
While he was a student he was on the Michael Folonis and Welton Beckett design team as a finalist for the West Hollywood Civic Center competition.
He was a docent at the Frank Lloyd Wright Barnsdall House and with another architect recreated the design of the living room furniture from photographs and built the model that would be used for the fundraising campaign that was used to rebuild the furniture for the renovation.
He was a past instructor at the UCLA extension and Mesa College and a thesis advisor at Newschool San Diego.
He will be missed not only for his great talent as an architect but for his sense of humor and engaging personality.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 29th at 1pm at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, San Diego, California with a reception to follow.
