Steven Thomas Brothers, 35, formerly of Potsdam and Massena, lost his valiant fight with leukemia on May 30, 2012, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington. Steven was in remission for Phase I of chemotherapy treatment but succumbed to a secondary infection during Phase II.

Steven was born in Potsdam, on July 26, 1976, to Gene and Ann Brothers. Steven formerly resided in Massena, Bloomington, Ind., and most recently, in Arlington, Mass.

Steven attended Massena Central School and graduated from Bloomington High School South in 1994 and Indiana University in 1998.

Steven married Margaret Licata on July 8, 2000.

Steven is survived by his wife, Margaret Licata-Brothers of Arlington, Mass.; his parents of Syracuse; grandmother, Jean Lashomb of Plattsburgh, father- and mother-in-law, Sam and Barb Licata of Columbus; brothers-in-law, Matt Licata (Liz) of Chicago and Mark Licata of Raleigh, N.C.; and several aunts, uncles and cousins. Steven also is survived by his loving cats, Sophie and Mia.

Steven was predeceased by his maternal grandparents, paternal grandfather and paternal stepgrandfather.

Steven had a successful military career as both an infantry officer and later as a military intelligence officer. Steven entered the U.S. Army upon graduation from Indiana University’s ROTC program in 1998, when he was commissioned as a second lieutenant.

Over the years, Steven was able to attain the rank of major. As a direct result of Steven’s demonstrated success as a U.S. Army officer, he was selected to attend Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. Steven received his master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies in May 2011.

Due to Steven’s advanced fluency in Arabic, his Ivy League graduate-level education and a history of high success, Steven was assigned as deputy chief of the Office of Security Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar. Before attending Harvard University, Steven had been assigned as a foreign area officer at the U.S. Embassy in Morocco.

Steven was kind and compassionate and will be greatly missed.

Maj. Steven T. Brothers will be laid to rest on Aug. 29, 2012, at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Donations may be made in Steven’s memory to the Wounded Warrior Project. Please consider supporting bone marrow donation drives.