Sufi Remembrance

Birthdate: May 29th, 1946 URS: July 24, 2024

Siddiq Steven Kilkenny received the gift of life on May 29, 1946 and grew up nurtured with love by his Irish and Azorean family in Vallejo. He ran everywhere, played games with the neighbor kids, but also loved his own backyard where he built tree forts with his brother Phil and cousin Dan. An energetic multi-sport athlete at St. Vincent’s High School, he then chose to play football for the HSU Lumberjacks from 1966-1968.

During his final college years, Steve developed a passion for antiwar and social activism, co-leading the HSU student strike following the 1970 bombing of Cambodia, and engaged in many activities in the environmental movement and local politics, including the beginnings of the Northcoast Environmental Center and the Stop at Four committee.

In the early 1970s, Steve began practicing meditation and yoga and in 1976 took the name Siddiq when he became a student of Sufi Pir Vilayat Khan. Siddiq, with dear friends, started the local Dances of Universal Peace. He went on to practice with many wise and genuine spiritual teachers over the years.

This depth of practice led him to become a leader with vision. For nearly 30 years he directed the Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. In this role, Siddiq was in on the beginning of one of the first Early Head Start Programs in the United States and he started the now influential California Head Start Association. For dozens of years, he contributed his leadership to county organizations including the First Five Commission, the Humboldt Child Abuse Prevention and Coordinating Council, the Every Child Collaborative and the organization now known as the Humboldt Health Foundation.

He served 10 years as an Arcata School District Trustee and built strong collaborations between social services, school districts and law enforcement to protect children and families in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. Siddiq sang with the McKinleyville Community Choir, nurtured the Eureka Symphony board, and was president of the Arcata Zen Group.

Siddiq loved climbing to the top of mountains and swimming in deep mountain lakes. He especially loved the Kilkenny land near the headwaters of the Eel River, which has been in the family for six generations. There he welcomed the wildlife, played his guitar and had fun with his loved ones, watching the snow melt off 8,000-foot Mount Hull. He also repaired roads, trails, ancient cabins, and anything else on the land that needed fixing.

With joy, Siddiq tended his two-acre garden on Campbell Creek in Arcata, filled with tree ferns, redwoods, maples, roses, dahlias, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, dogwoods, redbuds, blueberries, raspberries, huckleberries, apples, pears, plums, figs, lemons and many other plants and trees.

Siddiq drew people in with his twinkling eyes and smile and held them close with his empathy and sincerity. He was known for his heartfelt laugh, his vibrancy and aliveness. He was wise and kind and loving. A gentle soul, whose spirit will live on in all those he touched.

The center of his life was his beautiful and loving partner Matina. Together for 50 years they grew into each other, becoming each other’s greatest teachers and the deepest of friends. There are no words to convey the joy and happiness they shared. Their deeply loved sons Francis and Chris, joined by Francis’ beloved spouse Sandra Herdt and daughter Tasha, enriched his life beyond measure. In addition to his wife and children, Siddiq is survived by three sisters (Carolyn Cadloni, Patrice Gavin, Jeanne Kilkenny Turk), two brothers (Phil Kilkenny and Paul Kilkenny), nieces, nephews, grand nieces and nephews, sisters and brothers-in-law; hundreds of cousins among whom he was an elder, several surrogate children and grandchildren and many fascinating friends and co-travelers.

Matina and Siddiq loved to travel and made many pilgrimages throughout Europe, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Central America, North Africa, the Azores, Japan and Nepal.

Siddiq was led to the great threshold by a very rare and incurable cancer on July 24, 2024. He returned to stardust with deep gratitude for a life of awe, wonder and great love. Love that was returned many times over from many people and from the mountains, rivers, and the richness of life.