“A good coach can change a game, but a great coach can change a life.”

Steve Wagner passed away on Friday, September 4, 2026 at 65 years old. He grew up in Miami, Florida.

Steve served in the United States Marines Corps from 1989-1992. He was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, Camp Lejeune, NC, and also served in Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait.

After serving in the United States Marine Corps, Steve somehow decided that one career devoted to service and running toward things most people run away from wasn’t enough. He became a firefighter with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, where he served between 1997 and 2007 at Station 23 before moving with his family to Marietta, Georgia. There, he joined Cobb County Fire, serving another 15 years before retiring in May 2022.

Steve had many passions: coaching his daughters’ softball teams, coaching middle school softball programs at Lassiter and Walton high schools, working on cars, his daughters, and his wife, Michelle, although not necessarily in that order. It depended on the day.

But beneath the teasing was the thing everyone who knew Steve understood. His family was his world. He was enormously proud of Piper and Devin, loved Michelle deeply, and spent much of his life taking care of other people; first as a Marine, then as a firefighter, and always as a husband, father, coach, friend, and the guy you called when something needed fixing.

Steve is survived by his wife, Michelle; his daughters, Piper and Devin; his mother-in-law, Marisa Alsing; his brothers, Mike Wagner, his wife, Marisa, daughters, Samantha, Lyndsay, Julia Marquez and grandson Ivan, and Matt Wagner and his son, Christopher; his beloved Standard Poodles, Moose and Elke, his grand-dogs, Baker and Titus, and a great many friends, fellow firefighters, Marines, softball players, and probably at least one unfinished automotive project.

He will be deeply missed, lovingly remembered, and undoubtedly discussed for years to come, often beginning with the words, “Remember that time Steve . . .?”

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to one or as many of the following as your heart desires:

Miami-Dade Firefighters Local 1403 First Responders Resiliency Foundation

https://checkout.square.site/merchant/A30P1TQWB359P/checkout/GCNZDY5SKJ4IQC57IRWJQV3W

Firefighter’s Emerald Society of Metro Atlanta:

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/remembering-steve-wagner

Sandy Plains Softball Association

https://sandyplainssoftball.sportngin.com/register/form/142574191