Some would say J. Richard Steffy was a gambling man.

He left a family business in electrical contracting and devoted himself to his passion for ship reconstruction, taking on a career as a Texas A&M University professor without earning a bachelor's degree.

His risk paid off, and it made him a pioneer and a legend in A&M's nautical archaeology department, colleagues said.

The 83-year-old died Thursday at a Bryan nursing home after a lengthy battle with lung disease.

Steffy, a founding member of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M, worked on excavations in more than 30 countries, wrote books, received a MacArthur Fellowship and lectured all over the world.

But colleagues say what he'll be remembered for is his gentle spirit, willingness to mentor others and love for his life's work.

"His reputation will be out there for generations, certainly in the field of archaeology," said Wayne Smith, a former student of Steffy's who is now an associate professor in A&M's nautical archaeology program. "He has another astounding legacy to pass on, and that is, I don't know anyone who could even remotely come up with something bad to say about the guy."

Another colleague, George Bass, met Steffy in Pennsylvania in the early 1960s, when Steffy contacted him about an article on a Byzantine shipwreck that Bass wrote for National Geographic. Steffy wanted to use the article as a research model, so Bass met with him. Bass said he was impressed by Steffy's knowledge.

"He was always a very humble person, even though he was recognized globally as the authority on nautical archaeology," Bass said. "He was a genius. He retired as a full professor at A&M and yet he did not have a bachelor's degree. He was totally self-taught. He had the respect of scholars all over the world."

Steffy left his family's electrical contracting business in the early 1960s, joining Bass and Fred van Doornick to create the Institute of Nautical Archaeology.

"[Steffy] gambled hugely, and I think that was part of the reason I was willing to give up a tenured professorship at the University of Pennsylvania," Bass said. "He was going to give up his business and become a professional ship reconstructor. I told him he'd starve to death. He had two sons. I thought it was so brave. We gambled, and it ended up beautifully, with a world-renowned program."

Loren Steffy, the professor's youngest son, said he's glad his dad gambled.

"My dad was a guy who got to do what he loved doing more than anything else," he said. "There's not many people who get to live the dream. His whole life was a tribute to what he loved. As a son, he was an inspiration to me."

Richard Steffy and the Institute of Nautical Archaeology moved to College Station in 1976, when he and his two colleagues joined the faculty at Texas A&M.

Cemal Pulak, an associate professor of anthropology at A&M, met Steffy in the 1970s while he was a graduate student studying engineering. The men worked together to excavate a ship in Turkey, and Pulak eventually entered the archaeology program and became Steffy's graduate assistant.

"He was genuinely, truly, a beautiful soul, always considerate," Pulak said. "I never saw him get angry or upset. He treated everyone like his equal. He would listen to what you had to say and suggest to you the possible answers so you could reach your own conclusion. He had an uncanny insight into how ships were built.

"I really miss him," he said.

Pulak said the research style of Steffy, who retired in 1990, lives on at Texas A&M.

"I learned from him a methodical approach," Pulak said. "Never say anything is done; just keep on working with it. He'd have a dream or an epiphany about something he'd reconstructed 35 years ago. He'd still be working on the small things that bothered him. That's something I picked up from him. In my mind, that's what makes this field fun."

Steffy was preceded in death by his wife of almost 40 years, Lucille Koch Steffy of College Station, who died in 1991. He has two sons, David Steffy of Great Falls, Va., and Loren Steffy of The Woodlands. Other survivors include a sister, Muriel Steffy Lipp of Alexandria, Va., a brother, Milton G. Steffy of Denver, Pa., and seven grandchildren.

A memorial service is set for 10 a.m. Dec. 8 at the Callaway-Jones Funeral Home in Bryan.

The family has asked that donations be made to the J. Richard Steffy scholarship fund through the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M.

Smith, Steffy's former student, said the field of nautical archaeology has suffered a great loss.

"It's just tragic when you lose someone who is a mentor, a friend and an incredible colleague," he said. "He was Steffy. You could quantify and qualify everything that he was just by just saying he was Steffy."

• April Avison's e-mail address is april.avison@theeagle.com.

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