Joan Markey Steele (12.15.1928 – 05.02.2020)
Joan Markey Steele (12.15.1928 - 05.02.2020)
Joan was a woman of love. She sought life and she gave her heart’s love to her husband Ed of 70 years, to her children and to her community. She was raised in Staten Island, NY, amid opportunities for tennis and then golf, a game that brought her local fame and many championship tournaments, both individually andas team partner to her beloved husband, Edward Cudahy Steele who died Dec 22, 2016.
Joan was a doer. If there was a new task to learn, she studied what was new until she could present herself with grace and with ease. Her nine grandchildren learned at her knee and then at her elbow and then from her utter devotion to helping others feel welcome in a myriad of ways.
Joan was a mother of five children who worked tirelessly to help carve a way into the world that would prove durable and filled with grace for each of us. She saw long before others might, that children follow the lead of their parents. She made sure her family experienced unity. And we each strove to embody it. She follows Robert Markey Steele, their devoted son, who died in a double bicycle accident, June 7, 1973 at the age of 19.
Joan was loved, motivated and constant in her loyalty to the Catholic faith and the ways it could hold heart, soul and the fears of the night. She never gave up. She always started again. Joan’s later life gave her time to rest, interact in small heart-filled sentences with perhaps, the sweetest smile this side of the Pacific Ocean.
Joan Markey Steele, known most recently as “quite a lady,” took her last steps on May 2, 2020. She died at home knowing she was loved and now held in the perpetual arms of her maker.
She is survived by their four children: Edward L. Steele, Anne Steele Hale, Susan Steele Jennings and Michael C. Steele. She is also survived by nine grandchildren: Jenna S. Scanlan, Brooke S. Ricketts, Miles P. Skinner, John B. Hayes III, Andrew S. Hayes, Caitlin H. Roniger, Charlotte M. Steele, Lily C. Steele and Frances J. Steele. Also surviving are six great-grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Joseph’s Church, Fredonia, N.Y. once the coronavirus quarantine is lifted. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to Shorewood Country Club Junior Golf Program, 4958 West Lake Rd, Dunkirk, NY 14048, or The Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation, 212 Lake Shore Drive W, Dunkirk, NY 14048.
For more information please go to larsontimkofuneralhome.com or call 716-679-9000.