Steven Arthur Tinsley

01/13/1950 - 11/22/2025

Steven Arthur Tinsley, 75, passed away on November 22, 2025.

Survived by his three adult children, Christopher Tinsley, Stephanie Swonger, and Andrew Tinsley; his daughter-in-law Christy; and two step-grandchildren, Ethan and Zoe. He is also survived by his sister, Linda Lee, and brother-in-law, Danny Lee, as well as numerous friends, acquaintances, and fellow car-buffs.

Preceded in death by his sister, Caroline Abraham; his brother, Donald Tinsley; his mother, Dorothy Tinsley; and his father, Robert Tinsley.

He lived for cars. He spent most of his life acquiring, rebuilding, driving, or selling hot rods, trucks, custom one-off builds. Later in life he got into building custom travel trailers and tear drop trailers. He was a true handy man and had a love for welding his custom creations. He loved NASCAR and followed it religiously for nearly 28 years. His favorite driver was Jeff Gordon. His other great passion was TV. HULU had become his comfort zone. The Chicagos and FBIs were talked about frequently. Four hours of evening news no matter how repetitive was also on the list. One of his greatest TV achievements though was watching and completing the entire Family Guy catalog about every three months, and he has done that for the last six years. He also had a passion for sweet, tasty treats. Apple fritters, ice cream, any freshly baked cookie was always gladly accepted and enjoyed.

While he only held a high school diploma, he was a true genius and highly intelligent. He possessed great common sense. His car knowledge was expansive, and he could tear down a Chevy S-10 complete to the frame and rebuild it into whatever his imagination desired. His personal life achievements were many. He traveled to and visited every NASCAR racetrack. He drove Watkins Glen racetrack. He participated in NASCAR ride-alongs. During his lifetime he probably owned well over two or three thousand cars in various projects or to just part out. In his younger Corvette days, he probably had owned over 30. I think his greatest achievement though was being a dad. He went through hard times and still did his best, and you can see the results of his dedication, knowledge, guidance, and love today.

He was a great man. He was loved. He will be missed by everyone he impacted. He is truly one of a kind and irreplaceable.