Steven McCabe was one of 10 adult Scouts BSA leaders who were awarded with the Silver Beaver Award in February 2019 by Patriots’ Path Council.
Steve was born in Newark and raised in Bloomfield. He joined Pack 14 at Sacred Heart Church and has fond memories of his parents wearing Coonskin Caps and singing “Davey Crockett… King of the Wild Frontier” in a parents’ show for the pack.
When he took his sons to the Hackettstown Fishery it was another experience he first enjoyed with Pack 14. He celebrated his 50th Reunion from Boston College in May of this year and graduated from Rutgers Law School in Newark in 1971 where he had Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg as a professor, and more importantly he met his wife Cheryl with whom he will celebrate their 47th anniversary in November.
Since January 2015 Steve has been a happily retired attorney. Steve practiced as a Legal Services attorney in Trenton and Perth Amboy, as a sole practitioner in Westfield, and as a partner in two firms, one in Jersey City, and with Pressler and Pressler for nearly thirty years.
Troop 73
When the first of their three sons asked to enter Cubs, Steve and Cheryl couldn’t have been happier, even though Steve hadn’t been inside a tent since Fort Benning. Each of his sons joined Pack 273 at their grammar school in Westfield and Troop 73 at Holy Trinity Church in Westfield where they all attained the Eagle Scout rank. Steve served in Troop 73, the Watchung Mountain District and the Patriots’ Path Council all of which he continues. In Troop 73 Steve started by helping to run the troop’s poinsettia sale. He later served as troop committee chair and continues as a committee member. He began merit badge counseling at Troop 73, and continues as a counselor, although with the passage of years he swapped out Whitewater and Wilderness Survival for Genealogy.
His favorite activities at Troop 73 included the Jeuther Cup Great Canoe Race and running a trip from the Upper Delaware through Skinner Falls that was covered by Boys Life magazine in August 2002. He and all of his crew received the 50 Miler Afloat award for one of their several 77-mile trips down the Delaware.
In the Watchung Mountain District Steve served as a member of the DOC, DOC chair, merit badge dean, and advancement chair. Hereceived the District Award of Merit and has served as unit commissioner to troops and packs since 2008.
He earned Distinguished Commissioner status and through the generosity of his DOC colleagues received the James E. West Society Fellowship award in 2016. While serving as Watchung Mountain District Chair, Steve was made member of the council executive board and since then has served as a member of the presidents council. He is also a member of the PPC Wrestling Club.
Outside of Scouting, Steve helps his American Legion Post 3 select boys to attend Boys State and serves the Essex Catholic High School Foundation. Although the school closed, this alumni association keeps it’s alumni in touch and serves as fundraiser for inner city Catholic education. Steve and Cheryl continue to reside in Westfield and their sons live in Brooklyn (David), in Cary NC (Andy), and Westfield (Joe).
As part of their retirement adventures Steve and Cheryl are slowly but surely visiting all of our magnificent national parks andspend every possible second with their three-year-old granddaughter.