Kamiak grad remembered as kind and upbeat

Published 8:52 am Monday, August 10, 2009

He was a lifelong skier and avid runner who had recently left the suburbs for Seattle.

To friends and family, Steven Frausto, 24, was a great friend who smiled a lot, loved life and cared about others.

Frausto, a 2003 graduate of Kamiak High School, died Aug. 1 during a boating and wakeboarding trip with longtime fellow snow skiers along the Columbia River north of Wenatchee.

“He was one of the greatest people I ever knew,” said his eldest brother, Brian Frausto, 30. “He was always happy to be outside doing things with friends and family. Hardly ever did you see Steve without a smile on his face.”

Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputies recovered his body, which was discovered by Chelan County Public Utility District biologists on Thursday.

Douglas County coroner Steve Clem confirmed Friday that Frausto drowned.

Friends said they could count on Steve Frausto’s positive attitude and infectious smile.

“He was always fun,” said longtime friend and running partner Amanda Costello, 24. “He wanted everyone to have fun.”

Frausto, who attended Central Washington University in Ellensberg until 2005, had been employed as a fire alarm system programmer for a Bothell company.

He grew up in an outdoors-focused family of three boys. He cared deeply about other people, whether they were friends or not, said Charley LeWarne, his cross country coach at Kamiak High.

“The thing that I remember about him, especially as a junior and senior, was that he was very proud of being part of a team,” LeWarne said. “He was genuinely excited about being part of this much larger group … which made him unique in general, compared to most kids today.”

Frausto was one of the top five or six runners on the team, LeWarne said. His senior year, the team competed at the state cross country tournament, “the only time we’ve ever done it,” LeWarne said. “He was very excited about being a part of that.”

Employees at Lombardo’s Pizzeria, off the Mukilteo Speedway, are wearing white ribbons in honor of Frausto through August.

“He’s one of a handful of kids who started with me and worked all the way through high school and several years after that,” said Michael Skeffington, Lombardo’s owner.

Skeffington and Frausto were good friends who lived near each other in the Woodsound subdivision of north Edmonds.

“I actually saw him on Friday (July 31),” Skeffington said. “I think he was heading to his parents’ house. He waved and we both laughed. It was a hot day, so we both had our windows down.”

He said the two had been on Skeffington’s 19-foot Bayliner boat at Seafair in Seattle several times.

The group of 10 boaters started their trip Aug. 1 at the Bauer’s Landing area and proceeded up the Columbia to Chelan Falls, where the boat on which he was a passenger was tied to two other boats. Together, they drifted about 50 feet offshore, Undersheriff Don Culp said.

Frausto had reportedly been drinking with friends and didn’t feel well, so he “spent some time sitting quietly and sleeping in the stern of the boat,” Culp said.

Friends told authorities they last saw him shortly after 6 p.m. near the front of the boat. When the boats separated, friends realized he was missing.

Deputies searched unsuccessfully for Frausto on Aug. 1, 2 and 3 before calling off the search Aug. 4.

Costello, who knew Frausto for about 10 years and dated him for a while, said he had recently moved to an apartment in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood.

“He said, ‘Call me anytime,’ and he really meant it,” said Costello, who also ran cross country for Kamiak. “There was one time when I called him about something I was upset about. When I came home, I found he had left me flowers. He wanted me to feel better about life. He was that kind of friend.”