RIP, Steve Werley
 

If you've attended any Nationals in the past 20 years there's a good chance you passed by and stopped at Steve Werley's booth. It stood out because he was the king of the oddball set. Steve passed away this past weekend at 63. He will be greatly missed. Remember those baseball inserts from the 1960s? Steve had them all, beautifully displayed. Limited edition posters or coins? Yep, he had all those too.
Years ago he helped me complete my 1971 Topps Greatest Moments baseball card set. He was a pleasure to deal with and always had a smile on his face. He retired about five years ago (he was a teacher) and a few years ago became a very proud grandfather. A true gentle man who found his niche in this great hobby and prospered.
Thank you, Steve, for your passion and devotion to the oddball. RIP.

Sad news. I always talked to Steve at the Philly Show, and also purchased a number of cards from him for some of the oddball sets I was working on. He will definitely be missed.

I always enjoyed looking at his items & recall just seeing him at the Philly Show in March...

RIP

Sorry to hear this

sorry to hear

Prayers to family and friends

Rest in Piece

63 is far too young. Condolances to his family and friends.

r.i.p steve

+1. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries...ry?id=35428114

I don't think I ever knew his name. but stopped by many, many times and looked and chatted over the years. Sorry to hear of his passing.

Very sad and a great guy.

Very sad news...I bought many odd Oriole items from him over the years at shows and I still have them all...he would always look out for items on my wantlist...super nice guy to deal with...thanks Steve...RIP

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Oh, how sad. I knew him from the Chicago Sun-Times/Sports Spectacular shows. He was just out here in March. My condolences to his friends and family.

Wow
 

I am in shock. This is terrible news. A very nice guy and always seemed to be the picture of health. This is really sad. Sleep in the stars my friend you will be missed.

RIP Steve. Always good to hear nice stories of people like Steve

I've been dealing with Steve on and off since the Philly show was in Ft Washington. Sold him the first 10 series of Perez Steele Postcards when I was in high school. Always a good guy and hard to believe he's gone so young.

Steve helped me with my 67 Stand Ups, 67 Punch Outs and 74 Deckles. I always enjoyed visiting with him and gawking at the stuff on his tables at the Nationals. A gentleman and great representative of the hobby. Very sad news

Steve was a GREAT friend over and above being a dealer I dealt with many times over the years. He and I had lunch near his home a few years ago.

He was so nice to everyone. Always had great "stuff" you would not see elsewhere.

He was a longtime hold out on listing on ebay until the pandemic hit and killed off the shows.

Was a French teacher and went on many trips on students to France. He and Annemarie recently was selling their house and moving to a new one last we talked.

I always hung out at his booth at the Philly show and National and would give him a break to run to the bathroom when he needed to leave his booth.

As the song goes....Only the good (GREAT in this case) die young.

Thinking of Annemarie, son Steve and daughter Danielle as well as the rest of his family at this great loss

Steve Werley
 

We will miss you, Steve.

GOD Bless your soul....... GOD comfort your Family and friends.


TED Z
.

Sad to see another hobby long-timer gone. Although I only chatted with him a few times, I wouldn't be surprised to find out he was set up at every single show I ever did over the years, a dependable presence with a booth full of oddball stuff you would rarely see elsewhere. He seemed like a nice guy, always smiling.

Although I don't do much in cards, I had the pleasure of speaking with Steve a few times over the years about some oddball card issues and interesting items he had. He was always really nice.... happy to talk and educate. Sad news. RIP.

So sorry to hear this on Steve--Very shocking news--just talked to him at the White Plains show--and I have the booth next to him at the National--was looking forward to chatting with him as always--a kind gentleman, I met Steve years ago at a White Plains show, we had a connection not only in the hobby, but we were both from Pennsylvania , his high school was 10 miles from mine. He had great odd ball stuff all the time--and always so kind in sharing his knowledge. He will be missed and again very sad.

This is such sad news. Steve was one of the nicest guys we’ve met while collecting. We always looked forward to seeing Steve at the shows and we felt like he genuinely looked forward to seeing me and my teenage sons. Even though we weren’t the biggest buyers, he spent a lot of time talking with my sons about the rare Roberto Clemente and oddball items he had and that we collect. Steve had a great way about him and always had a smile on his face. We will miss him a lot and are grateful for the time we spent with him.

I’m so sorry to hear this. I always enjoyed talking to Steve at nationals. He was always on the lookout for me for oddball Bob Gibson items and would email me throughout the year when he would run across something he thought I might be interested in. He was one of my favorite people in the hobby and will be greatly missed. My prayers go out to his family.

Just a Thought
 

I only met Steve's wife once. I believe it was at a National in California and it was brief. So I don't know Annemarie BUT I thought she might enjoy reading all these comments about her husband. I must say I have never seen so much love for a dealer. Does anyone know her any better than me? Maybe if you could print out this thread and send it to her by snail mail (or forward it to her by email) she would appreciate it. I don't know. Your call, forum members who know her. Just a thought. Peace.

Hi,

I am friends with Steve and Annemarie and would be happy to show her all of these great memories of Steve. I'll wait a day or so to see if anyone wanted to add anything else.

Good idea,

Mike

A true gentleman
 

Steve
Always gracious and extremely knowledgeable man. He will be dearly missed in the community of collectors.

Great guy he will be missed
 

Did many deals with Steve..wow 63 is to young...I will miss Steve. RIP

I am stunned to hear this news. I just spoke to Steve at the last Philly show and prior Chantilly show. He was soft spoken and was a great source of knowledge for oddball issues. He was a mainstay at the Philly shows going back to the Ft Washington days...I will miss seeing him. My condolences to his family.

I had the honor of knowing Steve from the Philadelphia. show as well. Sold a 1969 Topps graded 3D Clemente a couple years ago. Loved off-beat cards. After that sale, came buy to see if I had anything else he wanted. Great guy for the hobby and great man. Will be missed by all collectors and dealers who knew him and the ones that wish knew him.

So sad to hear. I’ve done many deals with Steve over the years. Super nice guy & helped me track down many scarce cards. Always had one of the most interesting tables at the Philly Show. I’ll miss you Steve. Philly Show won’t be the same without you.

I didn't have the pleasure to know Steve, but Rest In Peace sir.

Joe

Wow, shocking and sad; he was, as noted, a super nice guy. I first ran into him at the Philly Show then later on in Westchester. Saw him last year in Chicago, can't believe he's passed. RIP

Just curious if his passing was sudden and whether he was at the most recent Chantilly show just a couple of weeks ago. I know he regularly was present at the Chantilly shows and I thought I saw him at the most recent show....but I may be mistaken. I know he was at the Chantilly show before the most recent one.

Can't answer if he was at Chantilly, but here is the word I received from another member regarding Steve:

He went for a run and came home and suddenly collapsed. Obviously sounds like a heart attack, unless it was something like a brain aneurysm.


They had just gotten home from a 3-week European vacation and had taken formal family photos with his entire family (including grandchildren) literally the night before.

SO SAD!!!!

Don't know about Chantilly, but I chatted with him briefly in Pittsburgh in May. RIP.

I just discovered this thread only a day after learning about Steve! I had been unable to pay attention to collecting for a couple years (part financial, part other work) so hadn't been to the National or the Philly Show since early 2022. Went this past weekend specifically looking for Steve, and was bummed to see he wasn't there. He always was my favorite booth - both for the quality of the wares and the man. Tried to look him up from the info I had in my phone and from his card, and discovered his passing in an obit and this thread. Sorry I'm so late to this, but I'm really sad to hear about this. My favorite local shop owner in NJ (Randy Fisher) died a couple years back, too. Such great memories, especially in how both treated my son while I got back into collecting and my son developed his own love, including for vintage.