Amherst's beloved Marion L. Steele dies at 85
By SHANNON JEWELL
As institution died yesterday and Amherst will never be quite the same. Her Name was Marion Lydia Steele. She was 85. And though she never married, her "family" numbered children in the thousands. She had begun teaching in Amherst in 1909 and had been principal of Central School for 44 years. SHE DIED YESTERDAY at 2:25 p.m. in Lorain Community Hospital, three weeks after suffering a stroke. Bur her name will live on into the distant future, perpetuated in the Marion L. Steel High School. The name of the school was chosen on the night in 1957 where she announced her retirement. The funeral service will be Friday at 1 p.m. in the Amherst Congregational United Church of Christ, with the Rev. Richard I. Christensen officiating. Burial will be in Crownhill Cemetery, Amherst. Friends will be received tonight from 7 to 9 and tomorrow from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 at the Garland Funeral Home, Amherst. Stone City Chapter 325, Order of Eastern Star, will conduct a memorial service at the funeral home tonight at 7.
THERE ARE STILL some people around who recall that fall day in 1909 when Marion Steele, slim and attractive and nervous and fresh from Oberlin College began the long career that was to become her life - and that earned her the plaudits of colleagues and students alike.
Marion Steel lived her entire life on the family farm at 715 Middle Ridge Road. A graduate of Amherst schools, she attended Oberlin Academy Preparatory School, then entered Oberlin College, graduating with a bachelor's degree in English and Latin. After graduation she found an opening for a teacher in Amherst and for three years taught everything from English to general science. Mrs. Rice, a member of the Amherst school board, had Miss Steel for English and as a principal. Another former English student, Mrs. James F. Bartish, 1960 Middle Ridge Rd., "called her teacher" one of the greatest. She was a dedicated teacher." Miss Steele was always an adventurer and pioneer. In 1913, she was appointed principal of Central School, a remarkable achievement for a young woman in those days. IN 1922, she participated in the first plane tour across the English Channel.
When she retired, she asked that "no fuss be made over it," and took off on a trip around the world, "to get out of town when school was out," according to her niece, Mrs. H.G. Battenhouse of Amherst.
Her life was built around children
"All the kids who ever graduated from high school were her family. She was always interested in them, and she lived beautifully and enjoyed everything," Mrs. Fred Powers, a retired fellow school teacher said.
EVEN AFTER RETIREMENT she continued to attend school functions and work with young people. "Young people always know what you stand for; they respect you more for having standards," Miss Steele once told The Chronicle-Telegram. "I think they are, at heart, more sincere," she said. Mrs. Helen Wingate, a recently retired history teacher who worked with Miss Steele for many years, has said students admitted they would rather receive a paddling from another teacher than a scolding from Miss Steele, because of their respect for her.
WOMAN KNOWN for her charm and vitality, she was a modest person who talked little of herself but showed a keen interest in her community and its people. Fifty years ago Miss Steele founded the Mary Martha fellowship group of the Amherst Congregational United Church of Christ. "Our group is named after her. She wouldn't have it the Marion class or the Steele class, so we came up with Mary Martha. She settled for that," Mrs. Battenhouse explained. The group was to have a founder's day program on Miss Steele's birthday July 18 to commemorate the group's organization, she added.
"She was a wonderful aunt to us all," she said, speaking also for Miss Steele's nephews, Byrd Richmond of Amherst and Frank Steele of Lorain.
MISS STEELE WAS one of the First Ladies of Amherst selected by the Zeta Zeta chapter of Beta Sigma Phi. A recent honor was her selection in February as "Woman of the Year" by the Amherst Business and Professional Women's Club of which she was a charter member. "Miss Steele was a fantastic woman who devoted her entire life and energy to education and the students of the school district. She was well thought of and revered by anyone who ever came in contact with her," Amherst Supt. Clayton Smith said today. Miss Steel was a member of Amherst Congregational United Church of Christ. She was a charter and 50 year member and the first secretary of Stone City Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, and a charter member of the Sorosis Club.
Miss Steele served on the Amherst Library Board, was a member of the Amherst Hospital Auxiliary and was on the organizational committee of Lorain County Community College.
She was preceded in death by two brothers and a sister.
Ohio Deaths 1908-1932, 1938-1944, and 1958-2007-Certificate: #046421,: Volume: 21331
Obituary, 14 Jun 1973, "The Amherst News-Times," (Amherst, Lorain Co, OH)
Article, 14 Jun 1973, "The Chronicle Telegram" (Elyria, Lorain Co., OH)
all info courtesy of Law-Miller #47103448
By SHANNON JEWELL
As institution died yesterday and Amherst will never be quite the same. Her Name was Marion Lydia Steele. She was 85. And though she never married, her "family" numbered children in the thousands. She had begun teaching in Amherst in 1909 and had been principal of Central School for 44 years. SHE DIED YESTERDAY at 2:25 p.m. in Lorain Community Hospital, three weeks after suffering a stroke. Bur her name will live on into the distant future, perpetuated in the Marion L. Steel High School. The name of the school was chosen on the night in 1957 where she announced her retirement. The funeral service will be Friday at 1 p.m. in the Amherst Congregational United Church of Christ, with the Rev. Richard I. Christensen officiating. Burial will be in Crownhill Cemetery, Amherst. Friends will be received tonight from 7 to 9 and tomorrow from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 at the Garland Funeral Home, Amherst. Stone City Chapter 325, Order of Eastern Star, will conduct a memorial service at the funeral home tonight at 7.
THERE ARE STILL some people around who recall that fall day in 1909 when Marion Steele, slim and attractive and nervous and fresh from Oberlin College began the long career that was to become her life - and that earned her the plaudits of colleagues and students alike.
Marion Steel lived her entire life on the family farm at 715 Middle Ridge Road. A graduate of Amherst schools, she attended Oberlin Academy Preparatory School, then entered Oberlin College, graduating with a bachelor's degree in English and Latin. After graduation she found an opening for a teacher in Amherst and for three years taught everything from English to general science. Mrs. Rice, a member of the Amherst school board, had Miss Steel for English and as a principal. Another former English student, Mrs. James F. Bartish, 1960 Middle Ridge Rd., "called her teacher" one of the greatest. She was a dedicated teacher." Miss Steele was always an adventurer and pioneer. In 1913, she was appointed principal of Central School, a remarkable achievement for a young woman in those days. IN 1922, she participated in the first plane tour across the English Channel.
When she retired, she asked that "no fuss be made over it," and took off on a trip around the world, "to get out of town when school was out," according to her niece, Mrs. H.G. Battenhouse of Amherst.
Her life was built around children
"All the kids who ever graduated from high school were her family. She was always interested in them, and she lived beautifully and enjoyed everything," Mrs. Fred Powers, a retired fellow school teacher said.
EVEN AFTER RETIREMENT she continued to attend school functions and work with young people. "Young people always know what you stand for; they respect you more for having standards," Miss Steele once told The Chronicle-Telegram. "I think they are, at heart, more sincere," she said. Mrs. Helen Wingate, a recently retired history teacher who worked with Miss Steele for many years, has said students admitted they would rather receive a paddling from another teacher than a scolding from Miss Steele, because of their respect for her.
WOMAN KNOWN for her charm and vitality, she was a modest person who talked little of herself but showed a keen interest in her community and its people. Fifty years ago Miss Steele founded the Mary Martha fellowship group of the Amherst Congregational United Church of Christ. "Our group is named after her. She wouldn't have it the Marion class or the Steele class, so we came up with Mary Martha. She settled for that," Mrs. Battenhouse explained. The group was to have a founder's day program on Miss Steele's birthday July 18 to commemorate the group's organization, she added.
"She was a wonderful aunt to us all," she said, speaking also for Miss Steele's nephews, Byrd Richmond of Amherst and Frank Steele of Lorain.
MISS STEELE WAS one of the First Ladies of Amherst selected by the Zeta Zeta chapter of Beta Sigma Phi. A recent honor was her selection in February as "Woman of the Year" by the Amherst Business and Professional Women's Club of which she was a charter member. "Miss Steele was a fantastic woman who devoted her entire life and energy to education and the students of the school district. She was well thought of and revered by anyone who ever came in contact with her," Amherst Supt. Clayton Smith said today. Miss Steel was a member of Amherst Congregational United Church of Christ. She was a charter and 50 year member and the first secretary of Stone City Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, and a charter member of the Sorosis Club.
Miss Steele served on the Amherst Library Board, was a member of the Amherst Hospital Auxiliary and was on the organizational committee of Lorain County Community College.
She was preceded in death by two brothers and a sister.
Ohio Deaths 1908-1932, 1938-1944, and 1958-2007-Certificate: #046421,: Volume: 21331
Obituary, 14 Jun 1973, "The Amherst News-Times," (Amherst, Lorain Co, OH)
Article, 14 Jun 1973, "The Chronicle Telegram" (Elyria, Lorain Co., OH)
all info courtesy of Law-Miller #47103448
Amherst's beloved Marion L. Steele dies at 85
By SHANNON JEWELL
As institution died yesterday and Amherst will never be quite the same. Her Name was Marion Lydia Steele. She was 85. And though she never married, her "family" numbered children in the thousands. She had begun teaching in Amherst in 1909 and had been principal of Central School for 44 years. SHE DIED YESTERDAY at 2:25 p.m. in Lorain Community Hospital, three weeks after suffering a stroke. Bur her name will live on into the distant future, perpetuated in the Marion L. Steel High School. The name of the school was chosen on the night in 1957 where she announced her retirement. The funeral service will be Friday at 1 p.m. in the Amherst Congregational United Church of Christ, with the Rev. Richard I. Christensen officiating. Burial will be in Crownhill Cemetery, Amherst. Friends will be received tonight from 7 to 9 and tomorrow from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 at the Garland Funeral Home, Amherst. Stone City Chapter 325, Order of Eastern Star, will conduct a memorial service at the funeral home tonight at 7.
THERE ARE STILL some people around who recall that fall day in 1909 when Marion Steele, slim and attractive and nervous and fresh from Oberlin College began the long career that was to become her life - and that earned her the plaudits of colleagues and students alike.
Marion Steel lived her entire life on the family farm at 715 Middle Ridge Road. A graduate of Amherst schools, she attended Oberlin Academy Preparatory School, then entered Oberlin College, graduating with a bachelor's degree in English and Latin. After graduation she found an opening for a teacher in Amherst and for three years taught everything from English to general science. Mrs. Rice, a member of the Amherst school board, had Miss Steel for English and as a principal. Another former English student, Mrs. James F. Bartish, 1960 Middle Ridge Rd., "called her teacher" one of the greatest. She was a dedicated teacher." Miss Steele was always an adventurer and pioneer. In 1913, she was appointed principal of Central School, a remarkable achievement for a young woman in those days. IN 1922, she participated in the first plane tour across the English Channel.
When she retired, she asked that "no fuss be made over it," and took off on a trip around the world, "to get out of town when school was out," according to her niece, Mrs. H.G. Battenhouse of Amherst.
Her life was built around children
"All the kids who ever graduated from high school were her family. She was always interested in them, and she lived beautifully and enjoyed everything," Mrs. Fred Powers, a retired fellow school teacher said.
EVEN AFTER RETIREMENT she continued to attend school functions and work with young people. "Young people always know what you stand for; they respect you more for having standards," Miss Steele once told The Chronicle-Telegram. "I think they are, at heart, more sincere," she said. Mrs. Helen Wingate, a recently retired history teacher who worked with Miss Steele for many years, has said students admitted they would rather receive a paddling from another teacher than a scolding from Miss Steele, because of their respect for her.
WOMAN KNOWN for her charm and vitality, she was a modest person who talked little of herself but showed a keen interest in her community and its people. Fifty years ago Miss Steele founded the Mary Martha fellowship group of the Amherst Congregational United Church of Christ. "Our group is named after her. She wouldn't have it the Marion class or the Steele class, so we came up with Mary Martha. She settled for that," Mrs. Battenhouse explained. The group was to have a founder's day program on Miss Steele's birthday July 18 to commemorate the group's organization, she added.
"She was a wonderful aunt to us all," she said, speaking also for Miss Steele's nephews, Byrd Richmond of Amherst and Frank Steele of Lorain.
MISS STEELE WAS one of the First Ladies of Amherst selected by the Zeta Zeta chapter of Beta Sigma Phi. A recent honor was her selection in February as "Woman of the Year" by the Amherst Business and Professional Women's Club of which she was a charter member. "Miss Steele was a fantastic woman who devoted her entire life and energy to education and the students of the school district. She was well thought of and revered by anyone who ever came in contact with her," Amherst Supt. Clayton Smith said today. Miss Steel was a member of Amherst Congregational United Church of Christ. She was a charter and 50 year member and the first secretary of Stone City Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, and a charter member of the Sorosis Club.
Miss Steele served on the Amherst Library Board, was a member of the Amherst Hospital Auxiliary and was on the organizational committee of Lorain County Community College.
She was preceded in death by two brothers and a sister.
Ohio Deaths 1908-1932, 1938-1944, and 1958-2007-Certificate: #046421,: Volume: 21331
Obituary, 14 Jun 1973, "The Amherst News-Times," (Amherst, Lorain Co, OH)
Article, 14 Jun 1973, "The Chronicle Telegram" (Elyria, Lorain Co., OH)
all info courtesy of Law-Miller #47103448
By SHANNON JEWELL
As institution died yesterday and Amherst will never be quite the same. Her Name was Marion Lydia Steele. She was 85. And though she never married, her "family" numbered children in the thousands. She had begun teaching in Amherst in 1909 and had been principal of Central School for 44 years. SHE DIED YESTERDAY at 2:25 p.m. in Lorain Community Hospital, three weeks after suffering a stroke. Bur her name will live on into the distant future, perpetuated in the Marion L. Steel High School. The name of the school was chosen on the night in 1957 where she announced her retirement. The funeral service will be Friday at 1 p.m. in the Amherst Congregational United Church of Christ, with the Rev. Richard I. Christensen officiating. Burial will be in Crownhill Cemetery, Amherst. Friends will be received tonight from 7 to 9 and tomorrow from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 at the Garland Funeral Home, Amherst. Stone City Chapter 325, Order of Eastern Star, will conduct a memorial service at the funeral home tonight at 7.
THERE ARE STILL some people around who recall that fall day in 1909 when Marion Steele, slim and attractive and nervous and fresh from Oberlin College began the long career that was to become her life - and that earned her the plaudits of colleagues and students alike.
Marion Steel lived her entire life on the family farm at 715 Middle Ridge Road. A graduate of Amherst schools, she attended Oberlin Academy Preparatory School, then entered Oberlin College, graduating with a bachelor's degree in English and Latin. After graduation she found an opening for a teacher in Amherst and for three years taught everything from English to general science. Mrs. Rice, a member of the Amherst school board, had Miss Steel for English and as a principal. Another former English student, Mrs. James F. Bartish, 1960 Middle Ridge Rd., "called her teacher" one of the greatest. She was a dedicated teacher." Miss Steele was always an adventurer and pioneer. In 1913, she was appointed principal of Central School, a remarkable achievement for a young woman in those days. IN 1922, she participated in the first plane tour across the English Channel.
When she retired, she asked that "no fuss be made over it," and took off on a trip around the world, "to get out of town when school was out," according to her niece, Mrs. H.G. Battenhouse of Amherst.
Her life was built around children
"All the kids who ever graduated from high school were her family. She was always interested in them, and she lived beautifully and enjoyed everything," Mrs. Fred Powers, a retired fellow school teacher said.
EVEN AFTER RETIREMENT she continued to attend school functions and work with young people. "Young people always know what you stand for; they respect you more for having standards," Miss Steele once told The Chronicle-Telegram. "I think they are, at heart, more sincere," she said. Mrs. Helen Wingate, a recently retired history teacher who worked with Miss Steele for many years, has said students admitted they would rather receive a paddling from another teacher than a scolding from Miss Steele, because of their respect for her.
WOMAN KNOWN for her charm and vitality, she was a modest person who talked little of herself but showed a keen interest in her community and its people. Fifty years ago Miss Steele founded the Mary Martha fellowship group of the Amherst Congregational United Church of Christ. "Our group is named after her. She wouldn't have it the Marion class or the Steele class, so we came up with Mary Martha. She settled for that," Mrs. Battenhouse explained. The group was to have a founder's day program on Miss Steele's birthday July 18 to commemorate the group's organization, she added.
"She was a wonderful aunt to us all," she said, speaking also for Miss Steele's nephews, Byrd Richmond of Amherst and Frank Steele of Lorain.
MISS STEELE WAS one of the First Ladies of Amherst selected by the Zeta Zeta chapter of Beta Sigma Phi. A recent honor was her selection in February as "Woman of the Year" by the Amherst Business and Professional Women's Club of which she was a charter member. "Miss Steele was a fantastic woman who devoted her entire life and energy to education and the students of the school district. She was well thought of and revered by anyone who ever came in contact with her," Amherst Supt. Clayton Smith said today. Miss Steel was a member of Amherst Congregational United Church of Christ. She was a charter and 50 year member and the first secretary of Stone City Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, and a charter member of the Sorosis Club.
Miss Steele served on the Amherst Library Board, was a member of the Amherst Hospital Auxiliary and was on the organizational committee of Lorain County Community College.
She was preceded in death by two brothers and a sister.
Ohio Deaths 1908-1932, 1938-1944, and 1958-2007-Certificate: #046421,: Volume: 21331
Obituary, 14 Jun 1973, "The Amherst News-Times," (Amherst, Lorain Co, OH)
Article, 14 Jun 1973, "The Chronicle Telegram" (Elyria, Lorain Co., OH)
all info courtesy of Law-Miller #47103448
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