Steven P. Piazzale, PhD

Steven Peter Piazzale, Ph.D., died peacefully on July 27, 2026, in Redwood City, California, at the age of 77. He spent his final weeks as he spent his life– surrounded by family and friends, sharing moments with those he loved.

Steve was born May 28, 1949, in San Francisco to Ben and Maryan Piazzale. He graduated from Junípero Serra High School and earned a B.S. in mathematics from Santa Clara University, where he was inducted into Pi Mu Epsilon and served as a National Science Foundation researcher. He earned his M.A. from San Francisco State University and a Ph.D. from Stanford University in sociology— writing both his master’s thesis and his doctoral dissertation on jazz, his life long passion. Music was Steve’s lifeblood; he not only contributed to the field with scholarship, but also as a key member of the Bay Area jazz community and as a drummer and pianist himself.

Steve began his professional career as a sports statistician. Long before the popularity of sports analytics, Steve wrote a column predicting game outcomes from statistics, bringing this new dimension to fellow Bay Area sports fans. He then spent two decades as a professional writer, six of them at PeopleSoft, before turning to the career coaching work which he found so deeply rewarding. After navigating a career transition himself, Steve was determined to use his expertise to help others find work that brought them meaning and joy. He created his own private practice, as the Bay Area Career Coach, and for twenty years helped clients find work that truly fit them; many clients became lasting friends. As part of his mission to give back, he hosted and produced the publicly broadcasted “You’re Hired!” television show, named as a deliberately hopeful answer to a famous catchphrase.

Steve was an active member of his community, engaged deeply with Bay Area jazz organizations, the local Humanist Community, and meditation groups. Steve’s intellectual curiosity and passion for ideas was a throughline of his life. He enjoyed participating in a range of discussion groups, meeting to talk about books, travel, intellectual ideas and everything in between. Steve was a passionate enthusiast about his hobbies and interests, whether that meant animatedly discussing favorite episodes of Star Trek, rooting for his local sports teams, or determining the best frozen yogurt order (peanut butter!).

Above all, Steve was devoted to his family and to his many cherished friendships. Among his greatest joys were his relationships with his daughter, his son-in-law, and his special bond with his granddaughter, Clara-- his face lighting up whenever he saw her.

His loving and compassionate nature always shined through, even in small interactions. He continually took time to express love and gratitude for those in his life and to lighten everyday moments with a joke or a compliment. Even through a decade with Parkinson’s and dementia, his kindness never wavered. He continued to give compassion, gratitude– and even a little free career coaching!-- to those who crossed his path.

No description of Steve is complete without mentioning his incredible sense of humor. Whether it was in the form of his cartoon collection, which he and his daughter carefully curated over the course of decades, his silly games invented to the delight of children– most notably for his favorite audience: his granddaughter– or simply injecting humor into an ordinary moment, Steve’s sense of humor brought joy to those around him.

Steve is survived by his daughter, Gina Freeman (John Robichaux); his granddaughter, Clara Freeman; his sister, Karen Baggetta (Steve Baggetta); and what must be at least 10,000 puns still in active circulation.

Services will be held on August 5th at 3pm at Crippen & Flynn in Redwood City. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Palo Alto Jazz Alliance (PAJA).